Innovative Strategies for Broad Scale Adoption of Cover Cropping in Northern Climates

Although the integration of row crops into cropping systems has increased productivity and efficiency, lack of rotation out of annual crops has led to a number of potentially detrimental economic and environmental consequences, ranging from increased use of pesticides, increased cost of production, decreased yields, rapid erosion of topsoil and reduced soil health. Cover cropping can have a tremendous impact on water quality and environmental quality as a whole. However, in northern regions, row crops are harvested too late to establish many of the cover crop species. Interestingly, all cover crop mixtures developed for the Northeast (PA, western NY) are not suitable for more northern regions such as VT, ME and eastern NY. Mixtures of cover crop species for the far north need to be developed and deployed. Interseeding in mid- to late summer might establish a diverse cover crop mixture in northern regions by allowing the cover crop species more time to establish and grow prior to winter months. This project will develop, evaluate and verify innovative cover cropping strategies such as cover crop mixtures, interseeding techniques, and seeding rate guidelines that will help maintain and improve soil productivity in Northern regions.