Solving tough soil problems with cover crops

“The issue that I’ve run into with producers is them saying they tried it, and it didn’t work,” Elmy said. “Getting that knowledge to know what species to be seeding with what crops in what rotation, when to seed it, how to seed it, and what the seeding rates are, go through the pitfalls of using cover crops in rotation and going for more consistent, positive results.”

Elmy said there are many reasons for adopting cover cropping. He begins by asking the producer several questions.

“What is your goal? What are you trying to do? Why are you going to grow a cover crop? Everybody will have a little different angle of rationale. They have weed issues. Do they have compaction? Do they want to reduce their future inputs? Do they have multiple levels of issues of why they want to get into cover cropping,” he added.

Elmy said once the goals have been set then farmers can start developing a plan for picking species they want to seed and when to seed them.

“Is it conventional or organic? Is it livestock? Is it grain?” he said. “What are these triggers that we need to satisfy? So, at the end of the season, people say, yes, that worked.”

Elmy said he wears many hats as a cover cropping consultant.

“I’m part psychologist because people come up to me and they ask me, do you think this is crazy? I tell them, yes, that must be crazy because I like it,” he said. “I’m part cheerleader that I want to encourage these people to keep doing the things that they are doing with cover cropping and soil health. I’m part agronomist. I’m going to go through and work on the agronomy. I’m an educator so this way when we start talking about reducing phosphate fertilizers, we can if we meet these conditions in our management.”

Soil cover crop workshops are $25 per person, including lunch. You can register online at sasksoil.com. Each session runs from 10:00 a.m. until 4:00 p.m.

–

alice.mcfarlane@pattisonmedia.com

by Pattison Media

Solving tough soil problems with cover crops

What's Trending