5 Big Benefits of Using Cover Crops

Introduction

This year I wanted to increase my growing potential in the garden. I decided to increase the amount of growing space I had. I did this by renting some local 23×24 ft. garden plots that were offered through my local ag-extension office. Soon after paying the $30 dollars for the two plots I realized that the information given to me in regards to how the plots were maintained/up kept was only partly true. I was informed that my city did annually rototill the plots and were said to “amend” the beds with compost rather than cover crops. Based on my own investigation I could tell that the beds were tilled, but the evidence of soil amendments seemed scarce.

I had faith in the information I was told and even went to check on my plots in early spring, far before anyone had started planting their spring crops. I discovered an abundance of weeds already taking over my plots in the beginning of March. I decided to borrow a wheel hoe and my trust traditional garden hoe and get to work. I would carry on with my previous assumption that the weed pressure would be normal. For the first few months the weeds were manageable and I could get by weeding once a week.

Once warm season gardening started I was met with a rude awakening and was met with an unrelenting force of bindweed, Bermuda grass, and various other weedy species. After initially weeding in the beginning of May I applied a relatively thin layer of woodchips for added soil moisture and some degree of weed barrier. It wasn’t until the following weeks after the initial planting of corn that we got a heavy rain and hail storm. Following the storm I recall the weed pressure exploding. I was hesitant to hand weed due to the fragility of the new seedlings that were emerging. Typically people would use a hoe to deal with the weeds, but since I applied mulch to the area I was hesitant to hoe the surface and mess up my mulching.

Fast forward to today and the weeds are still an issue but the corn is now tall enough to shade out a majority of the weeds from taking over. The corn in this garden has not grown the best. It was planted in the end of April/beginning of May and is now beginning to tassel and put out silks (early-mid July). You can see the lack of soil fertility throughout the corn height/maturity. The corn near the edges/perimeter of the garden is significantly taller than the plants in the middle of the plot.

To help mediate these issues I am planning on laying down many layers of cardboard, cut and drop my corn stalks from this year, and then add new compost/soil to the top to help suppress previous weeds/seeds in the seed bank within the soil. One of the most important things I can do is cover the area with some cover crops. Maintaining a living mulch or ground cover helps prevent a lot of negative impacts on the ground, while also creating a great deal of benefit on the land.

The world of cover crops has a lot of variation and many of the plants are planted for various reasons. There is still a bit of debate over how many species one should plant for cover crop and if you should no-till or till. A lot of the recommended cover crop species will be killed during the winter frost and should help build the soil rather than take from it. Not only does it help build the soil and reduce weeds but it also helps reduce soil erosion, increase organic matter, better the water retention in the soil, increase soil diversity, and add fertility. I hope to inform you on the other incentives of cover crops and why farmers are slowly moving towards the direction of cover crops.

1. Reduced Soil Erosion

It may seem like common sense, but growing cover crops is one of the best ways to prevent soil erosion via the wind and rain. Reduced soil erosion is often one of the most commonly presented benefits of cover crop benefits. This is due to the ground having living roots to hold the soil together rather than left to blow around in the wind or rain. The roots add structure and support. There are various plant types that do different jobs when it comes to cover crops, but typically nothing holds on to the soil like native or perennial plants. In a conventional farm setting, the use of native forbs/grasses is unlikely, but should be noted.

Something is better than nothing, much like the saying goes. This is true in the case of using cover crops for a form of protection against soil erosion. It is crucial to protect what topsoil we have left after lifetimes of improper methods and exploitative farming methods.

2. Increased Organic Matter

Another great thing about cover crops is that they can increase the organic matter in your soil. Organic matter is defined by Wikipedia as, “the large source of carbon-based compounds found within natural and engineered, terrestrial, and aquatic environments.” Often, organic matter is the natural and decomposing material/waste left over from plants and animals. This is usually the substrate or food for other forms of decomposer organisms.

Over the course of this decomposition process more and more nutrients are broken down and made accessible to plants. Organic matter is increased when planting cover crops as many of the plants are killed from the winter or from mowing, disking, or solarization. Often the residue of these cover crops is left to decompose in or on top of the soil. This leads to an increased deposit of organic material within an area. Good sources of organic matter include plants that create a lot of biomass such as sugar beets, or grains/grasses.

3. Better Water Retention

With the addition of added in organic matter to the soil comes better water retention. If you are no till and do not plan on tilling your residual plant matter into the soil you can let your plants decay either above and/or below the soil depending on what you plant. This addition of extra carbon to the soil creates a layer of insulation, plus the decomposition of the plant material releases water from the plant and in the form of waste from anaerobic bacteria. The combination of these two factors helps create the perfect soil moisture.

Depending on your area drought may play a common role in impacting crops and soil moisture a lot of your recent growing seasons. The addition of this organic matter to the top of and in your soil can greatly reduce the impacts of excessive heat in the summer and help hold onto what little moisture we have from the winter snowfall and spring/early summer rains. As the climate changes and becomes more unpredictable in its weather patterns we must learn to adapt and utilize what rain/snowfall we can during spells of drought. Cover crops may help conventional ease into a more unpredictable growing climate.  

4. Increased Soil Diversity

With this new and improving soil quality full of heaps of organic matter it makes sense that one would be attracting all kinds of insects and microbial life running to the free food and water. Some cover crop mixes even promote diversity by pre-inoculating the legumes to ensure that mutualistic, nitrogen fixing bacteria are present in the soil. Often time the addition of organic matter helps to bring back soil microbe diversity as it creates both food and habitat for them in what once was a barren wasteland. Often times the overreliance of synthetic fertilizers kills the microbes in the soil due to the toxicity of the nitrogen concentrations, leaving the soil reliant on outside fertilizers for significant nitrogen input.  

5. Added Fertility

With the added organic matter and microbe diversity it is safe to say that the addition of plant matter to the soil should make it richer. Some cover crop plants such as sugar beet or radish do a good job at decompressing the soil and gaining nutrients from deep in the soil. They then keep the nutrients in the soil and can be used to help attain nutrients that were unattainable for annual crops with shorter roots. Since you typically cut back or kill the cover crops when they are green, there is usually a higher concentration of nitrogen in the leaves/green material that can be broken down and made available for the following growing season.

Conclusion

Cover crops are by no means a new idea. This practice has been done for hundreds of years possibly thousands. The saying that there are strengths with numbers is true for both human armies and in regards to plant/soil ecology. Although the use of cover crops isn’t really a new idea, many farmers are still hesitant to coming on board with cover crops due to the various economic hurdles that already stand in their way. Despite these limitations, it is well known that cover crops have benefit to the land. Various species are great at various different tasks. Regardless, the benefits outweigh the risks when considering using cover crops. The use of cover crops can be a great tool to help build back the soil and help replenish what has been lost over time.

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