If there are two things that go together seamlessly in the soil health world it’s cover crops and biology. These two work hand in hand to build soil organic matter, prevent erosion, fight disease and pests, and ultimately, produce healthy food for people. Separating the two is a recipe for lackluster results. Utilizing both biology and cover crops propels your whole operation towards a healthier state, one that requires less intervention to run efficiently.
Plants work best when paired with the proper biology and that biology relies on a living root in the soil to proliferate. To use cover crops without biology stops short of the full potential of that living root in the system. On the flip side, to apply biology, without incorporating cover crops leaves the biology high and dry, without a home or food source. Using both cover crops and biology in your cash crop system sets you up for a highly efficient, healthy operation.
Cover Crops AND Biology – Let’s use both
Achieving this goal isn’t as easy as throwing out whatever cover crop you might have on hand and picking up a random “bug in a jug” at your local ag supply store. You need to have a well thought out plan that includes both cover crops and biology and utilize high quality products that are proven to work.
We’ve been using lots of biologicals on our cover crop seed for a while now. We’ve come to realize the importance of using biology as a whole system that supports both your cover crop and cash crop. In addition to our extensive cover crop seed line-up we’re now offering a wide range of biological products to support your operation throughout the season.
Types of Biology
Seed-Applied
An effective and simple way to add biology right from the get-go, seed-applied biology kickstarts your cash or cover crop growth. By adding biology in the very beginning, your crop starts forming relationships with those beneficial microbes when it really counts. As long as a living root remains in the soil, those microbial life forms will proliferate in your soil and benefit all consecutive crops.
In-Furrow
Similar to seed-applied, in-furrow application is another way to add biology to the rhizosphere before seeds even germinate. This adds beneficial biology to support early plant growth and root establishment.
Foliar
Use foliar sprays to add biology or other nutrients during the growing season. This application method offers a streamlined way to give crops the support they need at critical stages of development.
Nutrient Cyclers
Nutrient cyclers keep the biological activity running even after harvest. They help break down plant residue making nutrients available for the following crop. Nutrient cyclers can be applied in the fall or the spring.
Biology Enhancers
Products such as food sources and water conditioners can help enhance the effectiveness of biology. Food sources such as molasses based products continue to feed the biology that you’ve applied. Water conditioners make it easier to apply biology in various forms.
Types of Cover Crops
Grasses
All grasses belong to the Poaceae family, a group of fibrous-root growing, biomass-producing plants that are usually the bedrock for most cover crop mixes. Their fibrous root system makes them an excellent choice for controlling erosion and breaking up compaction. Livestock producers use grasses to provide ample amounts of biomass for their critters.
Legumes
Legumes are best known for their ability to form symbiotic relationships with rhizobia bacteria to fix atmospheric nitrogen. Many legumes are fast-growing and provide high protein forage for livestock. They are also a valuable addition to mixes used to reduce erosion, build organic matter, and attract beneficial insects. Legume seeds are available inoculated with rhizobium bacteria to ensure complete, fast, and successful nitrogen fixation.
Brassicas
Some of the most common cover crop species belong to the brassica family, namely turnips and radishes. They can be a great component of a grazing mixture when used at appropriate seeding rates. Because of their small seed size, brassicas can be used at very low rates in most mixes and work great in broadcast situations.
Broadleaves
Broadleaves are a great way to add diversity to a cover crop mix as they represent multiple different plant families. Most broadleaves have extensive root systems that are fantastic for soil building. Broadleaves can also be used for compaction breaking, erosion control, and attracting beneficial insects.
A system that sets you up for independence, not dependence.
Let’s say you’re dealing with some back problems so you seek out a chiropractor. You start seeing him twice a week and after about 12 weeks your back is feeling much better. You move your twice a week meetings to just once a week. Soon your body is feeling so good you only need to go twice a month. Eventually you bump it down to once a month. You might experience a fall or some sort of accident that sends you back more frequently for a period of time, but you quickly return to your once a month cadence. This sort of system moves you from a state of dependence to independence. In the beginning, you’re very reliant on your chiropractor sessions to ease your persistent back pain. Once your body is properly healed, however, it functions as it should, without pain, and you need those chiropractic sessions less and less. You may not ever completely stop seeing your chiropractor, but you’ve solved the root of the problem and set your body up to function at its highest capacity.
This is how a regenerative system works. Initially, you might pull out all the stops to get your soil into a healthier state. Over time the health of the entire farm ecosystem improves and you notice you need less inputs to keep the system running at the same level of efficiency. You realize instead of increasing your nitrogen application every year, you’re dropping it by 50 pounds. All of a sudden you don’t have to make a fungicide pass because your cash crops are truly healthy and not getting sick. You’re working with a system that brings you closer to independence as you become less and less dependent on expensive inputs to maintain yield and more importantly, profitability.
Working Hand in Hand
Cover crops and biology work in tandem to build a healthy soil ecosystem. When the soil and crops are healthy and thriving, the need for synthetic inputs drops dramatically. While it won’t happen over night, moving towards a state of less dependence on expensive inputs should always be the goal. If you’re curious about using cover crops and biology on your farm this year, reach out and we’re happy to help you build a plan that caters to your unique situation.
