Editorial

Excerpt

Maintaining cover on the soil surface in agricultural production is a basic tenet in preventing soil erosion, improving water infiltration, maintaining and increasing organic carbon levels, and possibly improving soil productivity. The use of cover crops such as winter annual grasses and legumes in conjunction with summer annual row crops is one common cover crop management system, but there are many variations in the use of crops to enhance soil cover. Keeping cover on the soil has many implications relative to watershed hydrology, nutrient cycling, carbon sequestration, soil structure formation, and soil biology. As an opinion, a bare, surface-sealed, eroding soil has very low soil quality. It is probably declining in long-term productivity and contributing to off-site environmental problems. The use of copping systems that include cover crops have the potential to improve soil quality. This was a part of the impetus to hold a conference dealing with these issues.

A conference entitled “Cover Crops, Soil Quality, and Ecosystems” was held on March 12-14, 1997, in Sacramento, California. The purpose of the conference was to provide a forum for research scientists, farmers, agricultural advisers and product developers and policy makers to discuss the implications …