Season 3 Episode 9 - Cover Crops and Sweet Corn
CCSI-HAT Soil Health Podcast · Conservation Cropping Systems Initiative
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Show Notes
Sweet corn farmers Chuck Mohler from Northern Indiana and Tom and Victor Hackman from Southern Indiana agree: cover crops are a benefit on any farm.
The Hackmans moved from a wheat cover crop on no-tilled sweet corn to a cereal rye cover crop about 5 years ago. They like the way the rye residue helps to conserve soil moisture - even without irrigation. The residue also suppresses weeds - often helping them eliminate post-emergence herbicide applications.
Mohler also agrees that cereal rye is a good cover crop; one of many that he uses on his heavier soils. And after early corn is harvested, he plants a cover crop of sudangrass and oats; watering and fertilizing as if it were a cash crop.