Contrasting Cover Crop Presentations

Last week, I heard contrasting presentations on cover crops.  Emerson Nafziger made a presentation in Litchfield on Wednesday.  He looked at research from several years of data on cover crops.  In his presentation he looked mainly for yield increases, and he did not find any.  It reminded me of  presentations on No-Til in the late 80's and early 90's.  He seemed to be missing the point.  Cover crops are a long term proposition and short term benefit can be difficult to assess.

Anthony Yannarell presented his research in Champaign on Saturday.  Unlike many researchers who prefer to look at yes or no answers, Yannarelll was looking into the why of cover crops and their weed control effect.  He used red clover in his research and found that leaving the entire plant on the surface was most effective in weed control,  One of the real benefits of cover crops is the weed control I am seeing.  While the weed control may not pay off in yield, hopefully you are getting some savings on herbicides.