Cover crops are planted in the fall and stay on fields over the winter, covering the ground with foliage and holding soil in place with their roots.

University of Hawaii research summarizes the effect of strip-till cover cropping and vermicompost water extract on soil food web structure in a short-term agroecosystem.

If you use cover crops and allow waterfowl hunters onto your property in the fall, you should pay close attention here.

Floyd Koerner, Michigan strip-tiller, shares information about the cover crop varieties planted at Koerner Farms. He also talks about the use of gypsum. Finally, he also explains their controlled traffic strategy.

Waterfowl hunters should keep in mind that some fields are considered baited and off limits to waterfowl hunting. Due to the wet and cold spring, some farmers were unable to plant a normal crop for harvest. Instead they worked with their insurance companies or the U.S. Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources Conservation Service office to plant a cover crop.

Saturated soils proved to be a challenge for Iowa farmers this past spring. Iowa had 726,350 prevented planting acres according to the Nov. 1, 2013 FSA prevented acres report. More than 619,000 intended corn acres and about 107,000 soybean intended acres were reported as not planted here in Iowa.

The increase number of acres planted to cover crops has raised questions on nitrogen (N) crediting for the 2014 cropping year. While there are many benefits touted for the use of cover crops, there are a lot of unknowns when determining N credits. This is especially true for mixes with multiple plant species.

One of the first steps in Iowa's water-quality program, cost-share for cover crops, is a hit.

A report has just been released with detailed results from a farmer survey on cover crops. The survey was carried out in partnership between the USDA North Central Region Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) program and the Conservation Technology Information Center (CTIC).

The NRCS released new guidelines on the termination of cover crops that could answer a few uncertainties on how covers should be managed in different climates in the U.S., but the RMA is still addressing questions about its policies with cover crops and eligibility for federal crop insurance.