Winter cover crops benefit soil health and can suppress weeds in subsequent row crops but may also lead to lower yields. Some farmers and agronomists speculate that allelopathic chemicals released by ...

GOODHUE, Minn. — Goodhue County farmer and Soil & Water Conservation District Board Supervisor Ed McNamara continues to fine-tune his use of cover crops for forage, fertilizer and soil health. This ...

Farmers usually plant so-called cover crops after harvesting their main crop in the Fall. This prevents erosion of the soil and nutrient leaching. The roots of these crops also stabilize the structure ...

Yichao Rui, assistant professor of agronomy, inspects soil in a cornfield at Purdue University's Water Quality Field Station. Rui leads a study investigating the viability of using kura clover as a ...

Only a fraction of conventional row crop farmers grow cover crops after harvest, but a new global analysis from the University of Illinois shows the practice can boost soil microbial abundance by 27%.

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 ...