United States: Finding profitability in cover crops

Hay

United States

Innovation & Technology

Published Jan 25, 2024

Tridge summary

A study by the University of Wyoming has explored the benefits of using cover crops in hayfields. The research involved planting a diverse 14-species cover crop mix in a deteriorated hayfield. The results showed that while there were no immediate soil and nutrient benefits, the cover crops produced a significant amount of high-quality forage, suppressed weeds, and improved soil water infiltration when no-till practices were applied. The study suggests that considering diverse crop mixes as alternative forages rather than cover crops could offer more value in hay production systems.

Disclaimer: The above summary was generated by a state-of-the-art LLM model and is intended for informational purposes only. It is recommended that readers refer to the original article for more context.

Original content

By Katie Shockley Cover crops and their potential benefits have created widespread interest among producers, yet little data exists to show if diverse cover crops could serve as a successful and profitable renovation tool for hayfields. With this question in mind, University of Wyoming researchers Brian Mealor and Tyler Jones set out in search of an answer. “The goal of our study was to take a deteriorated hayfield, terminate it with tillage or chemicals, plant a year or two of cover crops, and see if we observed any of the benefits cover crops are commonly reported to provide,” says Jones, assistant manager for research, outreach, and production at the Sheridan Research and Extension Center. Hayfields were planted with a 14-species cover crop mix in accordance with recommendations from the Natural Resources Conservation Services’ Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP). One of the benefits of EQIP is that it provides producers with cost-share incentives to help pay for ...

Source: Farm Progress