The transition management was the most difficult time for me, once I got into a regular cover crop rotation... farming got a lot easier and a lot less labor and input intensive. A lot less equipment intensive also. You dont need to re-equip your whole farm, in fact you can get rid of or park some equipment, saving on maintenance. I suggest buying a 15-40 foot great plains drill, there on tractor house for 5- 30K$ And will plant cover into almost anything. You are correct about possibly some species not over wintering or not growing at all. I think the rate of cover crop adoption is higher in my area, understandably because I'm a ways south of you. I always say: cover crops are great, but never let them get in the way of your cash crop, you don't have to plant cover crops on every acre every year. Jusy plant em and you'll find multiple reasons to keep planting them. For example; They solve the crusting issue at cash crop emergence, farmers that know crusting issues know how big of a benefit that is. I would say about 20% adoption rate in my area, still a minority BY FAR. as usual Jon makes you think!!! Good vid 👌

@jonstevensmaplegrovefarms3754

Жыл бұрын

Thanks for the thoughts! We'll said

There was a time when farmers said "the center drive pivot will never catch on.... look at it runnijg over corn!" 🤣

I’m working my way from four years ago to present watch this one and it’s awesome boy you’ve come a long way by staying the same amazing happy new year

It’s really a whole mindset shift. You summed it up right at the end with the comment about management. It will take more management. If someone is looking for an easy button, this isn’t for them. If a person really wants to credit some N for the following crop, they need to have a small grain or short season crop to let a legume grow. At least in this climate. Ask people in corn/soybean country to do that and you will be ran out of town. This goes back to my first sentence, it takes a shift in mindset.

Thanks Jon. Interesting as always. 👍🙂

My reason for cover crops is got 2 neighbors that complain about everything, noise n even tractor lights at night , so nothing better than 110 acres of tillage radishes rotting up n stinking him out , hahaha so cover crop seed cost is nothing compared to the me being a prick factor , oh yeah n it's good for the soil hahaha 😆 😂 😄

@jonstevensmaplegrovefarms3754

Жыл бұрын

Lmao, that's hilarious! And a little mean, well worth it!

@jvin248

Жыл бұрын

Mess with their minds: make sure to plant a lot of sunflowers and buckwheat. I found buckwheat brought so many beneficial insects I couldn't hear myself think at night and during the day I'd find spiders and praying mantises good for science fiction movies, watch out for the little dogs and cats!

@jonstevensmaplegrovefarms3754

Жыл бұрын

@@jvin248 lol! We did a big cover crop that actually worked one year and yes it was insane from the big dark black toads to all the spiders and other big bugs on the soil period in the evening you would look above the canopy and see just this amazing amount of bugs flying just above the canopy and the barn swallows swooping down and eating them period it reminded me of the movie bugs life

@tommoyer3302

Жыл бұрын

@@jonstevensmaplegrovefarms3754 what would be the cover to plant to attract insects ? I'll try some after wheat this summer , I'd like to help out the barn swallows n wild turkeys here too ,to be honest I never gave that aspect of it a thought , thanks 👍

@jonstevensmaplegrovefarms3754

Жыл бұрын

@@tommoyer3302 never heard of any 1 species, other than flowering plants for pollinators.

Corn on corn is my cover crop.*** Show me a better plant with deep roots to pull out nutients and mass to build organic matter.

@jonstevensmaplegrovefarms3754

Жыл бұрын

Absolutely. I did no till and strip till corn on corn for 3 years on a field and it absolutely turned that field around. There is hardly another plant out there that at the same time can generate as many dollars per acre have as much biomass on top of the soil to protect the soil and as much root system to help get the ground going. You do not need the asterisks for sarcasm, you are spot on The only thing I would say is strip till corn on corn versus conventional tillage would really help bring the benefits of the corn crop to life in healing the soil and the strip till you can get your nutrients under the crop residue for less chance of tie up. I love corn on corn, in my area it is pretty much unheard of

Excellent video, Jon! I feel like the area I live in has taken up cover crops a lot faster than most of the country, mostly due in part to the specialty crops. Almost everyone here does some type of cover after rye, and I'm not 100% sure, but I believe the tomato guys are pretty much forced to put a cover out by Red Gold (I don't know why they wouldn't want to anyway with all the leftover nutrients, tomato fertility is insane). But the first minute of the video hit the nail on the head. I don't want to say too much in case nothing comes of it, but our county soil and water district is working to encourage Purdue to do more research on covers. So many farmers still look to the universities for research data when making management decisions. Our district also understands the potential conflict of interest with universities and covers and the big ag corporations. We know that schools like Purdue, Iowa State, Ohio State, etc get a lot of money from your big companies like Bayer, Corteva and the like to do research that benefits THEM. What will they think when a land grant school does studies on covers and says, ok, in a few years you'll need to use half as much herbicide as you have been. That won't make corporate happy, and the schools want that money to keep flowing in. That's my opinion anyway. But it is worth a shot to try! Happy New Year, I look forward to more videos!

@jonstevensmaplegrovefarms3754

Жыл бұрын

Thank you for the conversation! I have heard rumors that behind some of the specialty crops like green beans over in Wisconsin they have to use a cover crop as well

It's very interesting to watch, how heaveyly questiond cover crops are in the US... here in good old Europe covers are very common. But on the other hand we hve like 70-80% moldboardplowing😂

In regards to covers taking away moisture in the soil, that's on mother nature; if it isn't raining it's hard for anything to grow. During drought the more residue there is when it does rain the better off that soil will rebound. Sure there's still a point where the cover should be terminated if required. Organic is a tough cookie... The tillage takes some of the benefits away. We put some covers on a couple of the summerfallow fields this fall and the millet and durum came decent before the freeze... with this snow cover and the small plant material will hold the soil better this spring. Hopefully the weather cooperates a little better this year.

@jonstevensmaplegrovefarms3754

Жыл бұрын

Well said!

You've said it time and time again. Starting small allows a guy to try an acre or 10 or 40. As a crop guy what's it worth to a guy to raise a few beef a year and use the manure and cover crop on your test plot.

I love this guy I didn’t know I could love farmin more than I already do

Hi there excellent job, planted rye for first, doubled my money on my corn crop this year, rolled rye down and planted through it

@jonstevensmaplegrovefarms3754

Жыл бұрын

Nice!

There are no university studies because they are funded by input companies. Covers use less and less inputs.

Seems to me he has enough information to realize this is an apocalypse video.

The lady at the conservation district said theyll pay for the seed next year. We do corn silage and rye for dairy

Hey Jon , hope you could shed some light on my strip till practice. Been doing it for 4 years and not getting very good results. In spring I shank in 6-7 inches deep my urea,potash. My crop looks like it’s not fertilized at all, terrible yields and ready to drag out the plow. Frustrated to say the least. Poor sand with about 3-7 Cec I soil sample annually and adjust accordingly. What am I doing wrong.

@jonstevensmaplegrovefarms3754

Жыл бұрын

Oh boy, is the strip nice or does it have pockets? Poor stand leads me to think on the surface it might look like a good strip but if you dig with your hand it's go pockets. Just a theory but I have had that happen to me. Seeds get deep, rain comes and sand washes over. How is emergence? Is the poor stand starting there? Have you dug to verify where the fertilizer is in the strip for depth? Is it possible the fertilizer is to close to seed and in dry soil like that can cause issues. Corn is very telling if it has a nutrient deficiency. Look up corn deficiency pictures and see if any look like your corn.

Jon I am sure this is a stupid question but here goes. I chop a sorghum every summer and then drill wheat and chop that in the spring. My question is if I was to drill the wheat while the sorghum was still growing and then sprayed it off if that would replace a good deal of fertilizer that it would need? Thank you very much for your energy and information.

@jonstevensmaplegrovefarms3754

Жыл бұрын

No stupid question when none of us. Understand what is happening! Lol I don't know what the wheat would contribute to the Sorghum or vice versa Historically speaking guys have put a mix of fescue, clover, alfalfa, cow peas in with a sorghum sedan mix to add more tonnage and feed value versus a standard monocrop of sorghum. Sometimes then you end up with a nice Hayfield after the high tonnage sorghum crop In them mixes the plants seem to do good growing together but in my region I would still have some early AMS out there to provide some nitrogen to get everything up and going. Research Albert Lea seed house and they've got some good summer mixes and forage mixes. Any one of their mixes could be made to work with cattle for feed you just might have to take a species or two out of it because of potential harm to the livestock

@davidcopling1442

Жыл бұрын

@@jonstevensmaplegrovefarms3754 thank you very much for your reply. I will absolutely look him up. Appreciate all that you do. Very interesting stuff for sure. God Bless and stay safe

Unfortunately I think farmers will be pretty slow to this. And I get it. Lot of guys say “if it ain’t broken don’t fix it” and in a lot of ways farmers being the “forever optimist” so often guys got to get backed into a corner where now they are throwing Hail Mary passes to just survive. Gabe brown is bout the best example of this that I can think of Now myself I’m a bit of a pessimist. I had a stroke when I was 15 had a dad that was born in the tail end of the 30’s a mom who remember ducking under school desks in the Cold War. My ma always put it to me like this”prepare for the absolute worst and when it doesn’t happen don’t freak out” Now I tweaked that saying to “prepare for the worst but do it in such a way that even if the worst doesn’t pan out you are actually further ahead because you’ve become more efficient. To me cover crops help with that efficiency. In this world we as farmers have no control over the weather, or natural disasters or the markets or even other outward lying economic issues such as inflation that drives up the expenses. The only thing we truly have control over is the way we apply our resources and apply our expenses. So it’s only logical to look at every possibility to become as efficient with those red courses. And than go forth with trials and experiments that won’t break the bank if it doesn’t work out. I have no qualms with spending money on a hydraulic squeeze chute to allow me to process more cattle with less man hours(resources) A grain guy has no issues putting big money into a shop or grain handling to save man hours money or just to be more efficient.We spend so much time worrying about efficiency but do not worry about the one place where we have full control over the efficiency....., expenses.

@valleyviewacres9120

Жыл бұрын

Sorry for it being long winded ...., I’ve drank too much coffee this morning LOL

@jonstevensmaplegrovefarms3754

Жыл бұрын

@@valleyviewacres9120 love the response! Great story and thoughts,

I live 1 County over from Dave Brandt and I'll have to agree . If his neighbors aren't jumping in after every he's done and shown then what does it take to convince people they can benefit ?

@jonstevensmaplegrovefarms3754

Жыл бұрын

That is an awesome point.

I have a couple questions, I apologize if you answered them already and I missed it or if it’s already been asked. I’m in Northern Illinois where we have a decent winter. Say I had a corn/soybean rotation and the first soybean field i harvested I put winter wheat on for a crop and straw next summer. On my corn and other soybean fields let’s say I want to try a tillage reddish and maybe a blend of some other covers, would I be better off planting them in the fall or inter seeding them with my corn. Also how would one do covers with soybeans? I’m assuming you’d have to kill them off before harvest so you don’t have much going through the combine? Really appreciate your videos, happy new year to you as well!

@jonstevensmaplegrovefarms3754

Жыл бұрын

Happy new year. You can go into corn early so the covers can survive the canapy period, if you have the climate you can fly on covers into late corn. Kind of up to you, no real right or wrong. Soybeans same thing, can have covers ahead of them, in season or behind them. I would love to get to the point where I plant beans into a cover, then terminate it and seed another cover, terminate that before any seeds of the cover species are produced or terminate it for harvest. A small growth of covers is a success.

@taylorsunderlage5176

Жыл бұрын

@@jonstevensmaplegrovefarms3754 Okay I see, so in corn you want to let the cover get established before you plant corn? Would the cover canopy hurt the growth of the corn crop?

@jonstevensmaplegrovefarms3754

Жыл бұрын

Let the corn get started. If you spread covers right before corn canopy a lot of covers might not live under the corn canopy, if you get covers in earlier they can get big enough to maybe survive. Always make sure cash crop wins

Mandated cover crops would create a disaster..

@jonstevensmaplegrovefarms3754

Жыл бұрын

Absolutely it would, how would they make sure covers are being planted, where is all the seed going to come from? If you can't get seed are you still getting fined? Are you going to spend more on covers than cash crop?

Does any of this apply to anyone doing gardening? My exception is that I’m sure as H never using Roundup.

@jonstevensmaplegrovefarms3754

Жыл бұрын

Gardening would greatly benefit, once you build healthy soil they can show more nutrients in the food.

@winchestermotorsports9202

Жыл бұрын

I have cover cropped my garden the past 3 years. Started incorporating animals with twice daily chicken tractor moves through it when the cover gets 8-10”. No till my garden into crimped cover crop and it has helped with early season weed prevention. I am going to try some crimped and some animal impact for termination this year and see what works better for me. My soil biology is really working that residue, so I do get some weed issues later in the year. I have found that if I buy rolls of contractor paper and use it in between my rows, it holds up decent enough to where I weed very little. Then to plant my cover i broadcast a half rate one pass, then run a little disk behind my mower with no weight to rip any residue up, it doesn’t even fling any soil up, then make another broadcast pass and run a yard roller over it to try to get good seed to soil contact. I have used as little as two species up to 10 species. I try to plan next years crop ahead of time and variable rate my cover to keep the C:N ratio lower where i plan to plant sweet corn and higher where i want more weed suppression or to build some organic matter. My garden is 55x80, so roughly 4500 square feet. I think a garden is a perfect spot to do cover crops because management is so much easier on an 500-50,000 square foot garden plot than it is on thousands of acre ag operation. I go out and study it every time I move the chicken tractor. You have to manage and learn what works for you.

@jonstevensmaplegrovefarms3754

Жыл бұрын

That is really awsome! I bet many ag channels could learn from you!

@karlrovey

Жыл бұрын

​@@winchestermotorsports9202 I would say it's easier to figure out when you're working on a small scale as well.

i agree.

Jon, do a quick video of corn and soybeans typical inputs and pricing you're seeing for 2023 spring Tillage-Farmers -- costs per acre are likely frightening at current prices. I've been away from farming for another career and all-in on Regen Ag as I don't have any interest in studying all the fertilizers, hybrid seeds, insecticides, and other chemicals -- it's dizzying how much Tillage-Farmers have to study, and study every year (because big chem is always pushing new products and reformulations "you gotta stay on top of it all so here are your winter classes"). You end up getting a de-facto Doctorate in Chemical-Tillage-Farming because it's so chemical intensive ... I see many farmers 'cheating' off an agronomists who suggests what recipe they need to follow because those programs are so complicated. ... However, Marketing Regen Ag needs to simplify and match how the chemical industry taught Tillage-Farmers with their 'solution in a bag' approach: "Here's your bag of herbicide (winter rye) and apply it at this time like it says right on the back of the bag", "Here is your bag of Nitrogen (alfalfa/lentils/clover, inoculated to fix nitrogen faster)", "Here is your bag of phosphorus and manganese (buckwheat)", and "your Fungus enhancer is in this here bag (Flax inoculated with microrhyzal fungus)". That's how easy it is -- all about Problem Solving By The Bag (tm) ..lol ;)

@jonstevensmaplegrovefarms3754

Жыл бұрын

Well said, good idea!

I'd never have soil in Florida at all without repeatedly digging under cover crops/plants.

Can you do a video of managing cover crops?

@jonstevensmaplegrovefarms3754

Жыл бұрын

Yep! Thanks for the idea

54 states?

@jonstevensmaplegrovefarms3754

Жыл бұрын

Who am I to argue with the resident in the White House

@melissab8500

Жыл бұрын

@@jonstevensmaplegrovefarms3754 🤣

54 states? There's only 50 unless you count Washington DC as separate

@danw6014

Жыл бұрын

There are 54 states if you listen to Biden's wish list of making US territories states or 57 if you listen to the Obama and the 57 states of Islam..

@kenraterink

Жыл бұрын

@@danw6014 ya I'm not listening to either of those blow hards

@jonstevensmaplegrovefarms3754

Жыл бұрын

Our resident in the White House had a gaff about all 54 states. In so many of my videos if you actually listen to a lot of things I say there will be a little something like that a quick little bit of humor or sarcasm

@danw6014

Жыл бұрын

@@kenraterink well if you listen closely they're telling you what they have in store for both of us..

@kenraterink

Жыл бұрын

@@jonstevensmaplegrovefarms3754 sorry I missed that... there's just to many gafs with this one for me to keep up with them all

54 states? I thought it was 57 Barry

54 states??? like really FIFTY FOUR STATES!!!!!! lol

@jonstevensmaplegrovefarms3754

Жыл бұрын

Who am I to argue with the resident

54 states????

In the first 15 seconds you lost me, there only FIFTY states. Not 54

@jonstevensmaplegrovefarms3754

Жыл бұрын

Joke because of the resident of the USA

State mandate and subsidies, problem solved

@jonstevensmaplegrovefarms3754

Жыл бұрын

Yeah! Lol, always works out good, guys that know how to play the system usually come out pretty good other people that are honest are the ones that end up having a hard time

The only way cover crop will be main stream is when the coops see vary good profit in the seed and the crop analyst at the coop think it's something new that everyone needs to do, a lot of things go that way every so many years ever thing comes back around and they think it's something new when 20 30 years before it was used! Cover crop will work you just need to find the right mix for each field and it takes more management!

@larsonvalleyfarm

Жыл бұрын

You got it! Custers was paying $6 a bushel for winter rye seed. A few more guys in my area let a few fields grow to combine. Selling $6 rye and $40 to $60 a bale on the straw. Not bad on a low input crop!

@bryanginder5903

Жыл бұрын

@@larsonvalleyfarm that's right! Funny just a few years ago not many people planted winter wheat and rye but now everyone does !

54?

@jonstevensmaplegrovefarms3754

Жыл бұрын

Your resident in the white house said so. Who am I to argue?

54 states? I thought there were 57. I wasn't able to get rye in last year but I am strongly considering drilling in a spring cover crop that will go to corn. Cover cropping programs are a loooong term investment. To get the most out of it the pH needs to right. With the cost of everything these days, my money is going to lime, nitrogen and cover crops, and my new old 7000 John Deere no till planter. Organic matter is the name of the game and I think most farmers will have no choice in the future as commercial fertilizers will be banned or unavailable.

@jonstevensmaplegrovefarms3754

Жыл бұрын

Very well said!

@jvin248

Жыл бұрын

I saw spring oats might be a way to catch up after missing the winter rye train. If fields are too wet for tractors and drills, hand broadcast or a 4-runner with a grass seeder borrowed from a landscaper buddy.

@danw6014

Жыл бұрын

@@jvin248 it's light sandy soil. I am looking at oats or a combination of oats and forages. I'll apply manure and use the oats to scavenge the nitrogen.