Maybe after you finish your vegetable harvest, you mentally say, “I’m done this year,” and wait to start again next year. But a cover crop could benefit you in several ways. By researching now, you ...

What’s cover cropping all about, anyway? As with many eco initiatives, what was old is new again: Cover crops (or fallow season plantings; see more below) were first used during the Roman Empire as a ...

‘Prosperity,’ customer pressure help stir cover crop interest The ‘yo-yo’ principle of managing cover crops Is USDA overpromoting cover crops? This is the first part of a four-part series examining ...

Establishing winter cover crops after or between harvests can be a great way to preserve soil structure, protect against erosion and produce biomass that feeds the soil ecology. However, if you’re in ...

While farmers plant millions acres of plants like rye and clover to boost soil health and crowd out weeds, a cover crop does the same thing in the smallest home garden. With cover crops, a vegetable ...

Cover crops play an important role in protecting the soil and water when cash crops like corn or soybean are not actively growing. The National Conservation Service promoted the use of cover crops ...

Cover crops provide benefits to vegetable farms of all sizes in addition to larger-scale contributions to the public good. Reduced tillage systems can provide additional soil health benefits. Many ...

A field planted with cereal rye, one of the most common cover crops in Iowa. Photo by Ally Larson/Iowa State University. AMES, Iowa – Planting ground cover in fields between cash crop growing seasons ...