Basic strategies for managing cover crops profitably. Steve Groff, Cover Crop Coaching

1. Profitable Cover Cropping
Steve Groff
The Cover Crop Coach

2. COVER CROP COACHING
SteveGroff.com
Started No-Till in 1982

3. COVER CROP COACHING
SteveGroff.com
Started Planting Green 1984

4. COVER CROP COACHING
SteveGroff.com
1st Cover Crop Roller in U.S.- 1995

5. COVER CROP COACHING
SteveGroff.com
Birthplace of Tillage Radish- 2001

6. COVER CROP COACHING
SteveGroff.com
You can’t BUY soil health: It has to be MADE!
Management!

7. COVER CROP COACHING
SteveGroff.com
Do you know
how to
MANAGE YOUR
SOILS in the
way they were
designed to
FUNCTION?

8. COVER CROP COACHING
SteveGroff.com
Do you know
how to
MANAGE YOUR
SOILS in the
way they were
designed to
FUNCTION?

9. COVER CROP COACHING
SteveGroff.com
Complexity/Diversity
Your soils were formed by MULTIPLE
SPECIES and had LIVING ROOTS
in the soil at ALL TIMES

10. COVER CROP COACHING
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We Could Forage for Berries and Nuts!

11. COVER CROP COACHING
SteveGroff.com
30 years ago!

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SteveGroff.com
Soil Covered with Living Roots all Year

13. COVER CROP COACHING
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Cedar Meadow Farm
The Past 30 Years…
Management!
2.0%
5.5%
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
OrganicMatter
Organic Matter Changes
1985 2015

14. My Diversity Journey…
2019- 27+ Species
Cash Crops Cover Crops
Tomatoes Radish
Squash Hairy Vetch
Pumpkins Balansa Clover
Oilseed rape Crimson Clover
Hairy vetch Oilseed Rape
Triticale Cereal Rye
Malting barley Triticale
Wheat Field Peas
Corn (grain and silage) Annual Ryegrass
Soybeans Pollinator mix
Winter Peas Sunn Hemp
Alfalfa/grass SorghumSudan grass
Grass Sunflower
Black Oats Phacelia
Hemp Others…
1982- 7 Species
Cash Crops Cover Crop
Tomatoes Cereal rye
Squash
Wheat
Corn (grain and silage)
Alfalfa
Grass

15. COVER CROP COACHING
SteveGroff.com
My Goals…
✓Lower pesticide and fertilizer use
✓No Commodity crops
✓Diversity, Diversity, Diversity
✓Profit!

16. COVER CROP COACHING
SteveGroff.com
In the Beginning…
God saw all that He had made, and it was very good!

17. COVER CROP COACHING
SteveGroff.com
Working WITH Nature!
We’ve been taught to control Nature with
tools:
“What am I gonna KILL today?”
How do I get more LIFE on my operation?
“How can I mimic nature- nurture it!”

18. COVER CROP COACHING
SteveGroff.com
“Tillage” in full swing!

19. COVER CROP COACHING
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The Result

20. COVER CROP COACHING
SteveGroff.com
38 Years Later…

21. COVER CROP COACHING
SteveGroff.com
Treat Cover Crops Like Cash Crops!

22. COVER CROP COACHING
SteveGroff.com
The “Profit” is in the Management!

23. COVER CROP COACHING
SteveGroff.com
Water Erosion?
What are you trying to Accomplish?

24. COVER CROP COACHING
SteveGroff.com
Interseeding Cover Crops into Knee High Corn

25. COVER CROP COACHING
SteveGroff.com
140
150
160
170
180
190
200
Untreated control Annual Ryegrass Legume mix Grass-legume mix
CornYield(bu/a)
Effect of Interseeded cover crops
Penn State, 2013
+12 bu/A

26. COVER CROP COACHING
SteveGroff.com
2014 PA Corn Grain Yields in On-Farm Study (year of interseeding)
(no significant differencedue to cover crop)

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Pennsylvania

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SteveGroff.com
Penn State University one pass
Interseeder/sidedress/herbicide

29. COVER CROP COACHING
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PSU Interseeder Research

30. COVER CROP COACHING
SteveGroff.com
Jim Hershey/Brian Zimmerman, Pennsylvania

31. COVER CROP COACHING
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Interseeding Cover Crops
Dawn Biologic

32. COVER CROP COACHING
SteveGroff.com
Last Cultivation

33. COVER CROP COACHING
SteveGroff.com
Interseeding/Sidedress N

34. COVER CROP COACHING
SteveGroff.com
The motorcycle method!

35. COVER CROP COACHING
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Ontario, Canada

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Wisconsin

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Interseeding with old drill

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Interseeding Success- NY 2015

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Central New York State
Applying manure (dragline) on green growing cover crops Nov. 19
Interseeded last week of June

40. COVER CROP COACHING
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Interseeding Limitations

41. COVER CROP COACHING
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Interseeding Success- NY 2016

42. COVER CROP COACHING
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From looking great to looking bad…

43. COVER CROP COACHING
SteveGroff.com
…to looking great again!

44. COVER CROP COACHING
SteveGroff.com
Summary For Corn Herbicides
Preliminary Recommendations for the Northeast
Grass Herbicides Active Ingredient
Injury Possible
DualII Magnum 7.64EC s-metolachlor*
Zidua 85 WG pyroxasulfone*
Potentially Safe Products
Prowl H2O 3.8 CS pendimethalin
Outlook 6 EC dimethenamid-P*
Harness 7 EC acetochlor*
BroadleafProducts Active Ingredient
Injury Possible
Callisto 4 SC mesotrione*
Impact 2.8SC topramezone*
Balance Flexx 2 SC isoxaflutole*
Potentially Safe Products
Resolve 25 WG rimsulfuron
Atrazine4 L atrazine(<1.0lb)*
Sharpen 2.85 SC saflufenacil*
*Premixed productsalso containmany of these active ingredients

45. COVER CROP COACHING
SteveGroff.com
Interseeding Limitations
✓Highly productive soils
✓Soybeans
Research ideas
✓Corn populations/flex ear hybrids?
✓60” Corn?

46. COVER CROP COACHING
SteveGroff.com
Interseeding recommendations
✓Start with lower yielding soils
✓End rows?
✓Best Species
➢ Annual Ryegrass
➢ Radish
➢ Crimson Clover, Balansa or Red Clover
➢ Cereal Rye or Triticale?

47. COVER CROP COACHING
SteveGroff.com
Interseeding Limitations
Cloudy days
Day length (sunlight)
Herbicides
Corn population
Upright vs. droopy leaves
Hybrid maturity

48. COVER CROP COACHING
SteveGroff.com
Interseeding Cover Crops
•No yield loss
•Cover crop planting does not
interfere with harvest
•Potentially adds up to the
equivalent of one more
month of cover crop growth!

49. COVER CROP COACHING
SteveGroff.com
11 Keys to Planting Green SuccessPlanting Green

50. COVER CROP COACHING
SteveGroff.com
Planting Green- 6 inches tall

51. COVER CROP COACHING
SteveGroff.com
Planting Green- 6 feet tall

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SteveGroff.com
Roll Crimping

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Keys for Planting Green Success
Termination timing
Just before planting
Make sure you can plant what you spray before
next rain
Spray before emergence

54. COVER CROP COACHING
SteveGroff.com
Planting Green- Maximizing N
Control with 1.5 qts. Glyphosate and 1 pt. 2-4,D
Terminating Crimson Clover

55. COVER CROP COACHING
SteveGroff.com
Roll/crimping Cover Crops

56. COVER CROP COACHING
SteveGroff.com
Keys for Planting Green Success
Understand how to manage moisture

57. COVER CROP COACHING
SteveGroff.com
Keys for Planting Green Success
Have proper planting equipment

58. COVER CROP COACHING
SteveGroff.com
Keys for Planting Green Success
Row cleaner adjustments

59. COVER CROP COACHING
SteveGroff.com
Non- wrapping row cleaners

60. COVER CROP COACHING
SteveGroff.com
Row Cleaner adjustments

61. COVER CROP COACHING
SteveGroff.com
Need to eliminate hairpinning

62. COVER CROP COACHING
SteveGroff.com
Proper Seed Depth

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SteveGroff.com
Keys for Planting Green Success
Seed firmer

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SteveGroff.com
Keys for Planting Green Success
Closing wheels

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SteveGroff.com
Proper row closure

66. COVER CROP COACHING
SteveGroff.com
Monosem Closing Wheel Adjustment

67. COVER CROP COACHING
SteveGroff.com
Monosem Adjustable Closing Wheel Angle

68. COVER CROP COACHING
SteveGroff.com
Yetter Responds…

69. COVER CROP COACHING
SteveGroff.com
Adjustable Angle Closing Wheels

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SteveGroff.com
Keys for Planting Green Success
In-row fertility

71. COVER CROP COACHING
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Assume no available N

72. COVER CROP COACHING
SteveGroff.com
Keys for Planting Green Success
Over-all season fertility management
For corn, more N up front

73. COVER CROP COACHING
SteveGroff.com
Beans Planted into Cereal Rye
$$$$$$$$$$$

74. COVER CROP COACHING
SteveGroff.com
Bulgaria
Planting Green

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SteveGroff.com
Bulgaria

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SteveGroff.com
The Proof!

77. COVER CROP COACHING
SteveGroff.com
The Proof!
No-Till/No Cover Crops No-Till/Cover Crops past 5 years

78. COVER CROP COACHING
SteveGroff.com
On-Farm Cover Crop Research

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SteveGroff.com
Wide-Row Corn

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SteveGroff.com

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SteveGroff.com
Who is your Mentor(s)?

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Factors Influencing Cover Crop Adoption
Regulations?
Or
The Market?

83. COVER CROP COACHING
SteveGroff.com
Keys to Cover Crop Success
LEARN all you can
UNDERSTAND where the FUTURE may
be going…

84. COVER CROP COACHING
SteveGroff.com
With Wrangler in Greece

85. COVER CROP COACHING
SteveGroff.com
With Wrangler in Greece

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SteveGroff.com
Companies who have a Plan
✓ General Mills
✓ Land o Lakes
✓ Campbells Soup
✓ Tyson Foods
✓ Pepsi
✓ Wrangler
✓ Phillip Morris
✓ McDonalds
✓ Nestle/Purina
✓ Patagonia
• Whole Foods
• Blue Apron
• Sweetgreen
• Cargill
• Walmart
• Coca-Cola
• ADM
• Bonduelle
• Unilever

87. COVER CROP COACHING
SteveGroff.com
New Book Coming Summer of 2020!
Steve's story, and important practical
lessons about business, farming and life in
this compelling, fun read.
Learn why you may have to change your
mindset in order NOT to become obsolete
in this ever-changing world!
Join the waitlist so we can alert you when
the book is ready!
SteveGroff.com
(Working title & design)

88. COVER CROP COACHING
SteveGroff.com
Public Perception!
PA No-Till Alliance

89. COVER CROP COACHING
SteveGroff.com
1. FARMERS trying cover crops for the FIRST TIME
2. FARMERS looking to take cover crops to the NEXT LEVEL
3. CONSULTANTS, TRAINERS OR EDUCATORS seeking a specific
plan for their clients

90. COVER CROP COACHING
SteveGroff.com
The “Profit” is in the Management!

91. COVER CROP COACHING
SteveGroff.com
SteveGroff.com