1. Cover Crops and Conservation Tillage
Steve Groff
Holtwood, PA

2. Permanent Cover Cropping System
Cover Crops
Crop rotation
Permanent mulch cover
Enhancing the Environment

3. Permanent Cover Cropping System
Increased profits
Clean water
Healthy soil
Reduced pesticides
Less soil erosion

5. Why Cover Crops?
Why No Till?

7. “Soil is meant to be covered”
-Steve Groff

8. What can Cover Crops do for you?
Manage your water table
Soil Armor-protection from rain, sun, and wind
Green Tillage- using plants to prepare the soil for seeding

9. Cover Crop Management Ideas
Plant Cover Crops for Erosion Control

10. Grand Canyon

12. Cover Crop Mixtures Diversity Guard against failure of one species
Biomass
Root growth
Guard against failure
of one species
Complementary

13. Cover Crop Cocktails
Above ground diversity is a mirror of below ground diversity
Microorganisms are like cattle- they need a balanced diet

14. Cover Crop Cocktail
$20.00 per acre

15. Cover Crop Biology
C/N ratio
Insect changes
Planting dates
Challenges

16. Hairy Vetch 20-25lbs per acre

17. Rye 2 bushel per acre

18. 60 lbs rye
20 lbs hairy vetch

19. Soil Health

20. Soil is meant to have
something living
in it at all times

21. Organic matter
2.7% 1984
5.4% 2007

22. Cover Crop Biology There is a time to kill Biological pumping: roots
bringing up nutrients
If you built habitat, they will come- earthworms

24. 34 earthworms in a square yard

27. Equipment
Planter
Drill
Rolling Stalk
Chopper

39. Rolling Cover Crops
There is a time to Kill

45. No N Applied

46. Soil test

47. Manure Management

50. On Time
As soon after
harvest as
possible
Priority
Plan

51. Cerrado Region Brazil

53. Plan ahead!

54. Explore
Internet
Field Days
Connect with
other farmers
Winter Lentils

57. Field Days

58. in Lancaster County are now no-tilled
Over 50% of Pumpkins
in Lancaster County are now no-tilled

59. Researchers
University
NRCS
Global

65. Tillage Radish
Break up
compaction
Control winter
annuals

69. 32” root

72. Bio-drilling

73. March 29

76. Tillage Radish/Spring Oats

77. Grain

78. Grass/Legume

79. Tillage Radish/Vetch/Rye`

80. Rye/tillage radish plots

81. Rye/tillage radish

82. Tillage Radish/Jerry Oats

83. Broadcast Seeded

84. Seeding Rate
10 lbs per Acre
Needs 60 lbs of N

85. Tillage Radish cover crop 2.5 acre demonstration plot
Corn Yields (dealer had weigh wagon) No cover crop   bu/acre Barley cover crop bu/acre Tillage Radish cover crop  221 bu/acre
41 bushel increase!
Dan Magness White Hall, MD 21161

86. But how much will tillage radishes increase my yields??
University of Maryland research indicates an 8-12 bushel corn yield increase can be expected after planting tillage radishes the previous fall.

87. “They till the soil and don’t even hurt the earthworms
“They till the soil and don’t even hurt the earthworms. Actually, they help
the earthworms by giving them something to eat!”
-David Groff

88. “No piece of steel can benefit the soil like roots
from a good cover crop”
-Steve Groff

89. Deep Tillage Tools?
You decide…

90. Crop Residue Management
Old Method?
Older Method?

91. Monuments of the past!

97. Permanent Cover Cropping System
Steve Groff
Cedar Meadow Farm
Holtwood, PA
Enhancing the Environment