Episode 9 - Cover Crops: Is it too Late to Plant?

Arkansas Row Crops Radio, providing up to date information and timely recommendations on row crop production in Arkansas.

Bill Robertson: Welcome to Arkansas Row Crops Radio, my name is Bill Robertson, Cotton Extension Agronomist, for the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture. I'm visiting today with Tim Smith. Tim is a member of the Arkansas Soil Health Alliance and the reason I'm visiting here with Tim today is this is in a series that were doing with cover crops and we know that we use cover crops to help ensure a healthy soil. The four ideas by USDA-NRCS is to keep the soil covered as much as possible. To keep the plants growing throughout the year to feed the soil. We need to diversity as much as possible with our crop rotation and our cover crop species too. And then, disturb the soil as little as possible. So, cover crops play a major role in this. Well our weather this year Tim has been a little difficult. 

Tim Smith: *laughs* It has, it really has. 

Bill Robertson: As it always is, in fact, I'm getting a lot of questions, in fact I'm in the same boat a lot of people are. I've got some of my cover crops out but I still have some I haven't planted yet and the big question is, am I too late?

Tim Smith: No, you're not too late. We still have some time. Some of these species will still do good. They'll sprout and grow in the cold weather and then they'll really explode after it warms up. We still have time. We have our new grass species like cereal rye, black oats, and triticale they'll still you know do good. I did a lot of planting of that in January/February of last year and they did good. 

Bill Robertson: You know, kind of where we're at now we've got a front that's coming in and we're gonna have some rain coming Thursday, our field are wet and were not really able to drill. I'm gonna spread it out, I'm gonna sling it out with a spreader and ya know with our temperatures, what do we need to do on our rates? Do we need to bump our rates up a little bit since its cool like this?

Tim Smith: Yeah, I would bump my rates up because we didn't get planted early enough to get some fall tailor so it's not gonna tailor quite as well and so yeah, I would increase my rates probably 10-15% on broadcast especially, take out winter peas. If you want to plant some kind of lagoom I would do vedge, or clover, there's several clovers that we can plant. And then on the brass cause no radishes way too late for radish. I would do like purple top turnips or seven top turnips. 

Bill Robertson: Ok. 

Tim Smith: And the rates, ya know, on those I would increase about 10%. 

Bill Robertson: Ok. Ya know, a lot of farmers I work with we start off with straight cereal rye and then to increase that diversity, not only in our cash crop but in our cover crops too, I've become way more comfortable with the black oats, that's another grass but the hairy vedge has worked good. In terms of cotton, I think things that fit good for cotton also fit good for soybeans. We still good with clovers and some of those things?

Tim Smith: Yeah, I am because see clovers and vedge they do a lot in the top 2-3 inches of the soil, like increasing soil texture. And so, I like that fact. And really the nitrogen that we get from that don't affect the beans as far as fixating nitrogen so I would trade it off and use it for the soil condition factor that its gonna give us. 

Bill Robertson: Ya know, Tim, last year we were really late. in fact, we were later into the spring when we had some spring planted cover crops and we really didn't know how well they would do and I looked at rooting depth and concentration of roots at planting time and I think the jury is still out when we're trying to look at our soil moisture data. I know we've got yield data, but yield isnt always the best measure on the success of a cover crop. Ya know, my experience is in a really, really dry year cover crops really add a lot on yield, but in a wet year, it really doesn't change much. And you could say the same thing for nematodes and some of the other issues that we fight, but the improving soil health, improving water filtration, some of those things. But did you have any experience with spring planted cover crops last year? What were your experiences last year on late-planted stuff?

Tim Smith: Yeah, we did, ya know, they planted late and it was cold and it kind of came up really slow. Matter fact, some of the stuff that was planted in say December and January last year, we didn't really see it until March, and then it took off growing. Now as far as root depth and stuff, we didn't get near root depth that we got planted earlier in the fall because we just didn't get that plant height in the fall but we've got a lot of weed suppression which is important and we did put some texture in that top 5 or 6 inches of the soil. So, ya know, it did good and you kind of have to have patience with it more so than you do in the fall. I still, we still do a good job planting late, so, just don't get as much root depth. 

Bill Robertson: Ok. But, I really feel like it, when we look at the things that we do to improve soil health, we don't build soil health from something that's really poor. We don't build it in one year, but, I think its a long-term investment. 

Tim Smith: It is. Years ago, when I managed a farm and I used cover crops it helped that farm. Ya know, the first year was kind of a headache and then wondering if it was doing a lot for me, and it was. But that second and third year was really when I turned the farm around and put a lot of texture in the soil and cut back on irrigation. And ya know, the same goes today. We've got a lot more in our arsenal today than we did several years ago when I was doing it, ya know, on the farm. Yeah, I mean the biggest thing you're going to get planted late right now is weed suppression, you are going to get some moisture-holding capacity but just not as deep as if it was planted say October/September. Just because we're not going to get the plant height early enough. 

Bill Robertson: Well, Tim, ya know, I have to admit and I know its probably pretty obvious to most everybody, I'm still learning on cover crops and I lean on folks like you and the other members of Arkansas Soil Health Alliance and your past experiences in all of it. You and Robby Beevus and Adam Chappell and Taylors and the others in the Soil Health Alliance are so willing to share your experiences and what works and what doesn't work. We really appreciate your help on this. 

Tim Smith: Oh, man. I enjoy it, I've got a love for it so that's why I'm in it ya know. All those years I saw what I got out of it and it's fun to really to work with folks and turn their farm and their land around. 

Bill Robertson: Ok. Even though we're getting late in the calendar and we have questions, as Tim says, and I firmly agree 100% that it is not too late to put our cover crops in and that's something that we need to do. So, Tim, I really appreciate your time. I know its busy, we've got some places were still trying to get things out of the field and get cover crops in but we sure appreciate you for your help. 

Tim Smith: Thanks a lot man, I appreciate yall. 

Bill Robertson: This has been Bill Robertson and I want to remind you to support Arkansas Agriculture by eating rice and wearing cotton. Thanks for joining us on Arkansas Row Crops Radio. 

Arkansas Row Crops Radio is a production of the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture. For more information please contact your local county extension agent or visit uaex.edu