When Don Morse began growing cover crops, one of his main goals was to tackle the growing populations of marestail (horseweed) and waterhemp that defied traditional control measures.
“I can give you a half dozen reasons to plant cover crops now, but weed control was a big reason I started using them at the time,” recalls Morse, who farms 90 miles north of Detroit, Mich.
Application Practices
Today, he uses cereal rye across 3,100 acres of corn and soybeans.
Between Labor Day and Oct. 1, Morse aerially seeds cereal rye into no-till corn and soybeans. That timing allows for good stand establishment before winter.
He prefers aerial seeding over the use of a ground rig. “We have a really good aerial applicator with a great skill set, and I think that’s what makes it work so well,” he says.
For seeding, he uses 75 lb. of cereal rye per acre. The seed runs about $12.50 an acre, and the aerial application costs about $16 per acre. He adds that for a ground rig, the seeding cost runs about $12 an acre.
In the spring, he no-tills soybeans into actively-growing cereal rye. In no-till corn, the cover crop is terminated prior to planting.
“I don’t want the rye to get any higher than my knees on corn ground, or we start getting a nitrogen penalty,” he says. “If you haven’t used cover crops before, I’d start with them in soybeans as there are fewer potential concerns.”
Iowa State Extension encourages farmers to evaluate the length of their growing season before planting rye. Longer is better for weed management.
Reduced Herbicide Use
Lance Dobson, who farms near Lexington, Mo., says he is using cover crops, primarily, cereal rye, across 100% of his acres now.
“We saw an opportunity with the cover crops to take advantage of some of that forage through cattle,” he says. “It’s also helping increase the nutrient cycling and soil health along the way, and helping us build another cash crop through the cattle.”
He expects additional benefits with cover crops from a reduction in inputs, going forward.
“We’re reducing our synthetic fertilizer use with cover crops and building organic matter,” he says. “We’re (also) able to do a one-pass herbicide on our soybean rotation — a $20 herbicide pass, excluding application costs. So that’s what we’re kind of moving towards.”
Cereal rye is helping Morse pull back on herbicide rates as well.
This past spring, on 400 acres of no-till soybeans, he left metribuzin out of his preemergence application, though that wasn’t his original plan. Wet conditions kept him out of the field until just before the soybeans emerged.
He did opt to make a post-herbicide application in the field, though few broadleaf weeds were present.
“Probably only half of that field really needed the post application,” he says. “I was tempted to not apply anything, but I wasn’t that courageous.”
Based on the positive results this year, he anticipates using less metribuzin on his 2025 soybean ground.
In a similar vein for corn, Morse says he has cut 4 oz. of mesotrione out of his herbicide program and has seen no negative consequences.
“We’ve been getting improved weed control, and now it looks like we’re going to be able to cut some herbicide use, so this is making financial sense,” he says. “We’ll keep watching and evaluating our weed control to see how far we can go with it.”
Your Next Read: How To Boost Your Sustainability Efforts By Aerially Applicating Cover Crops
