Cover Crops
Steve Fresk, a farmer from Southwest Minnesota, describes his experience with cover crops and how beneficial they can be for your soil health. The group then discusses everything from ideal cover crop planting windows to the best cover crop mixes for various soil health goals.
On this podcast Steve Fresk, who farms in Southwest Minnesota, recalls his journey into cover crops and discusses how he arrived at his current strategy. We also hear from other farmers who use cover crops as well as other strategies to boost the health of their soil while decreasing their dependence on commercial fertilizers. Here are a few of the important moments in this podcast:
- 4:50: "It's all about a system." Steve Fresk reviews his operation and how cover crops fit into his overall agronomy strategy.
- 16:54: "There's no cure-all." What do you have to consider when choosing cover crops?
- 23:15: A short discussion of Steve's experience with carbon credits.
- 25:20: Nitrogen + CarbonWorks RSTC 17: Steve explains his nitrogen program.
- 27:45: Some different methods to seed cover crops.
- 31:00: What cover crop mix should you use?
- 34:25: Why we need to do a lot of small things right rather than look for agronomy "home runs."
- 40:15: Using winter wheat to control white mold on soybeans.
- 48:40: Don't worry about labels . . . find strategies that work for you.
- 56:45: Cover crops and tillage.
- 1:02:45: Oxygen is vital to your soil health.
- 1:13:45: Why you have to tackle the salt issue in your fields and how carbon can help you do this.
- 1:20:20: The Haney test and how it helps you determine the amount of nutrients in your soil available to microbes.
- 1:24:45: The importance of energy to your soybean yields.
- 1:35:25: Can you put a cover crop in too late?
- 1:40:25: What can weeds tell you? How do you decide what cover crop to plant?
- 1:47:20: Don't oversupply one nutrient: A cautionary tale about leftover nitrate from corn production.
- 1:51:10: Can you get bigger soybeans with a foliar application during the last 30 days?
