Cover crop seeding results on Earth Day

This past fall we reported on our cover crop seeding trials done in collaboration with Prof. Scotty Wells at the University of Minnesota. Below are a couple of Earth Day photos taken of two of the plots. We used the ROWBOT platform to plant both plots with cereal rye--a fast growing species that is a trusted cover crop because it is easy to get established, especially later in the season.

We'll be getting out soon to do a careful biomass harvest, however, the qualitative result is that there was more growth on the plots that were planted earlier in the fall. If this preliminary result holds, then it will underscores the value of getting cover crops seeded well before corn harvest.

During the 2016 season, we plan to repeat and expand these seeding trials. It'll be important to get some seeding dates in August, too. We believe that seeding cover crops into tall corn using the ROWBOT platform during August and early September will provide excellent results, even in the northern part of the Corn Belt. Stay tuned!