Mixtures and cocktails: Soil is meant to be covered

Excerpt

Soil quality and soil health have been a keen interest of mine, especially during the past decade that we have been researching the soils here at Cedar Meadow Farm. Penn State University, University of Maryland, and USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service have all been testing various soil parameters on our farm. To achieve all three of our objectives—higher profits, enhanced soil quality, and less dependence on pesticides—we depend on no-till, cover crops, and crop rotations.

One of the most influential parts of the success of my “permanent cover cropping system” is the use of cover crops. Most of my 87 ha (215 ac) has something growing on it. It is as important to me to get those covers in as it is to get a crop planted. The use of cover crops and not tilling the soil has increased organic matter levels from 2.7% 20 years ago to 5.4% in 2007.

Cover crops are gaining in popularity due to increased knowledge of the benefits of their use. Benefits of cover cropping include erosion control, improvement of soil tilth, increase of organic matter levels (although this is negated if you aggressively till it in), loosening of soil, enhancement of water infiltration, …