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Planting cereal rye as a cover crop provides numerous short- and long-term agronomic and environmental benefits. Although inconsistent, under certain situations the yield of corn planted into the residue of a rye cover crop may be reduced.

During this webinar event held Tuesday, April 8th, 2014, Walton, Ind., no-tiller Cameron Mills shared timely tips for getting complete control and desiccation of annual ryegrass prior to planting.

Most producers would prefer to spread manure on their fields in spring and summer when the crops are going to get the most use out of it. Although the Department of Environmental Protection discourages winter manure application, there are circumstances when manure has to be applied in the winter, such as when wet fall weather kept field conditions unsuitable and the lack of a large enough storage structure to hold the manure until spring.

For Ontario farmer Blake Vince, taking a leap with strip-till practices helped him improve corn yields, preserve soil moisture and reduce expenditures on high-dollar fuel and fertilizer.

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.

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.

When Nick Viney partnered with Josh Trautman to form Badgerland Grain Farms LLC in 2006, they started with just 155 acres in south-central Wisconsin. But during the last 7 years, they've grown their Evansville, Wis.-based operation to more than 1,800 acres, an even split of strip-till corn and no-till soybeans, with about 180 acres of no-till wheat.

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