Our editors dig deep into the cover cropping habits of strip-tillers, evaluating seeding methods, termination practices, variety selection and much more in the first Cover Crop Strategies Benchmark Study. Nearly 1,500 respondents identifying themselves as farmers or ranchers participated in the study, including more than 200 strip-tillers. 

Glyphosate-resistant horseweed, or marestail, remains one of the primary weed management challenges in no-till soybean production. Designing effective herbicide control strategies for horseweed is challenging because of its emergence patterns. Read more in this article from Penn State University Extension.

A common question when incorporating cover crops into a production system is, will the cover crop interfere with the performance of residual herbicides included with the burndown treatment? This article from Iowa State University Extension will discuss the fate of residual herbicides applied to crop residue and living cover crops, and how this may influence herbicide effectiveness.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Farm Service Agency (FSA) announced a new pilot program that enables farmers in the Prairie Pothole region to receive payments for planting cover crops on their land for three to five years. The new Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) Soil Health and Income Protection Program (SHIPP) pilot is available to producers in Iowa, Minnesota, Montana, North Dakota and South Dakota.

Experts at Kansas State University Extension review important considerations and guidelines from terminating cover crops properly, including NRCS rules and challenges that can be posted by herbicide programs.