Skip to main content

Main menu

  • Home
  • Content
    • Current Issue
    • Early Online
    • Archive
    • Subject Collections
  • Info For
    • Authors
    • Reviewers
    • Subscribers
    • Advertisers
  • About
    • About JSWC
    • Editorial Board
    • Permissions
    • Alerts
    • RSS Feeds
    • Contact Us

User menu

  • Register
  • Subscribe
  • My alerts
  • Log in
  • My Cart

Search

  • Advanced search
Journal of Soil and Water Conservation

  • Register
  • Subscribe
  • My alerts
  • Log in
  • My Cart
Journal of Soil and Water Conservation

Advanced Search

  • Home
  • Content
    • Current Issue
    • Early Online
    • Archive
    • Subject Collections
  • Info For
    • Authors
    • Reviewers
    • Subscribers
    • Advertisers
  • About
    • About JSWC
    • Editorial Board
    • Permissions
    • Alerts
    • RSS Feeds
    • Contact Us
  • Follow SWCS on Twitter
  • Visit SWCS on Facebook
Research ArticleA Section

The past, present, and future of the cover crop industry

Steve Groff
Journal of Soil and Water Conservation November 2015, 70 (6) 130A-133A; DOI: https://doi.org/10.2489/jswc.70.6.130A
Steve Groff
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
  • Article
  • References
  • Info & Metrics
  • PDF
Loading

Excerpt

HISTORICAL COVER CROP USE The use of the crops we commonly refer to as cover crops can be traced back over the millennia. Ancient civilizations depended on their use to enhance the growth of crops they cultivated for food. Native Americans utilized a concept called “Three Sisters” where corn (Zea mays L.), edible beans, and squash were grown together as the benefits of diversity were realized. This strategy established a foundation of the effectiveness of the synergy of mixed species that is so prevalent in cover cropping today.

Cover crops were used nearly two hundred years before World War II. In fact, you could argue that the first US president, George Washington, who was also a well-known farmer by trade, was one of the foremost promoters in America for cover crops. His crop rotations were strategically listed to include “crops grown to eat and sell” and “crops grown to replenish the soil.” Clover, grass, and buckwheat (Fagopyrum esculentum Moench) were listed as those he incorporated into his cropping system (Mount Vernon Ladies' Association 2015). Many farmers in the new frontier were farming the land for a dozen years or so only to observe the soil erode and become less productive…

  • © 2015 by the Soil and Water Conservation Society

This article requires a subscription to view the full text. If you have a subscription you may use the login form below to view the article. Access to this article can also be purchased.

Log in using your username and password

Forgot your user name or password?

Purchase access

You may purchase access to this article. This will require you to create an account if you don't already have one.
PreviousNext
Back to top

In this issue

Journal of Soil and Water Conservation: 70 (6)
Journal of Soil and Water Conservation
Vol. 70, Issue 6
November/December 2015
  • Table of Contents
  • About the Cover
  • Index by author
  • Front Matter (PDF)
Download PDF
Article Alerts
Sign In to Email Alerts with your Email Address
Email Article

Thank you for your interest in spreading the word on Journal of Soil and Water Conservation.

NOTE: We only request your email address so that the person you are recommending the page to knows that you wanted them to see it, and that it is not junk mail. We do not capture any email address.

Enter multiple addresses on separate lines or separate them with commas.
The past, present, and future of the cover crop industry
(Your Name) has sent you a message from Journal of Soil and Water Conservation
(Your Name) thought you would like to see the Journal of Soil and Water Conservation web site.
CAPTCHA
This question is for testing whether or not you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions.
3 + 5 =
Solve this simple math problem and enter the result. E.g. for 1+3, enter 4.
Citation Tools
The past, present, and future of the cover crop industry
Steve Groff
Journal of Soil and Water Conservation Nov 2015, 70 (6) 130A-133A; DOI: 10.2489/jswc.70.6.130A

Citation Manager Formats

  • BibTeX
  • Bookends
  • EasyBib
  • EndNote (tagged)
  • EndNote 8 (xml)
  • Medlars
  • Mendeley
  • Papers
  • RefWorks Tagged
  • Ref Manager
  • RIS
  • Zotero
Request Permissions
Share
The past, present, and future of the cover crop industry
Steve Groff
Journal of Soil and Water Conservation Nov 2015, 70 (6) 130A-133A; DOI: 10.2489/jswc.70.6.130A
del.icio.us logo Digg logo Reddit logo Twitter logo Facebook logo Google logo Mendeley logo
  • Tweet Widget
  • Facebook Like
  • Google Plus One

Jump to section

  • Article
  • Info & Metrics
  • References
  • PDF

Related Articles

  • No related articles found.
  • Google Scholar

Cited By...

  • No citing articles found.
  • Google Scholar

More in this TOC Section

A Section

  • Developing cover crop systems for California almonds: Current knowledge and uncertainties
  • Flooding: Management and risk mitigation
  • Twenty years of conservation effects assessment in the St. Joseph River watershed, Indiana
Show more A Section

Features

  • Youth water education: Programs and potential in the American Midwest
  • Working toward sustainable agricultural intensification in the Red River Delta of Vietnam
  • Soil science beyond COVID-19
Show more Features

Similar Articles

Content

  • Current Issue
  • Early Online
  • Archive
  • Subject Collections

Info For

  • Authors
  • Reviewers
  • Subscribers
  • Advertisers

Customer Service

  • Subscriptions
  • Permissions and Reprints
  • Terms of Use
  • Privacy

SWCS

  • Membership
  • Publications
  • Meetings and Events
  • Conservation Career Center

© 2023 Soil and Water Conservation Society