Farmers put down cover crops

HOWARD COUNTY - There has been some speculation taking place on why the airplanes are again flying over farmland and dumping product on the fields.

Brandon Reis explained they are seeding cover crop, mostly cereal rye, although they tried different mixes on area farms. “They seed standing corn and soybeans around this time of year, right before the leaves start turning.” The seed is dropped and falls to the ground. The leaves then fall onto the seeds, retaining moisture. The rains allows the seeds to germinate in the next few weeks. 

“The goal is for the ground to be green behind the combine,” Reis noted.

The planes have been busy since late July, when they sprayed the fields. Now they are seeding.

Each plane carries about 5,000 pounds of seed that covers about 100 acres. In total, Reis and his neighbors, who have gone together on the practice, seeded about 2,000 acres in the prior week. Reis timed them. “They can load 5,000 pounds of seed and take off again in two minutes!”

So are farmers today better stewards of the land than their forefathers? Not necessarily. When farming was done 50-100 years ago, oats were a big crop. Now it is corn and beans. “The small grains have a value for the crops and soil,” Reis explained.

Cover crops were first used in this area around 2013. “They have been done in other places, but just started catching on about six years ago,” Reis stated.

He went on to say, “Cover crops protect the soil from erosion, capture nutrients and feed the soil biology (earthworms and fungi). A few dairy operations use them for feed.”

Mitchell Sortland, who works for Kinkenborg Aerial Spraying and Seeding out of Parkersburg said, “[Cover crops] are a great cause. I like the cover crop part of it for erosions and keeping nutrients in the soil.”

More farmers are joining the cover crop band wagon. They are used on around 6,000 acres in the Silver Creek Watershed, which is a water quality improvement project spearheaded by Neil Shaffer of NRCS. He explained cover crops are about 33% of the watershed area. “They take residual nutrients left over from the crop and holds onto them. Nutrients go into the plant and the following year, the crop breaks down and releases the nutrients back into the soil as the next crop needs it. It is helping us to get back into the balance of nature.”

Reis thinks of cover crops as a short-term investment with long-term returns