Cover crops are an integral tool in preserving and increasing soil productivity of Illinois’ grain cropping systems. The benefits of cover crops are numerous, including but not limited to stewardship of soil and water resources, weed suppression, and nutrient retention.

One of the barriers to incorporating cover crops into corn and soybean systems is timely planting, which occurs during the midst of the fall grain harvest season. Furthermore, many cover crop species are not well-researched. The ideal planting dates and survivability across the wide range of weather conditions across the state are still largely unknown, or not well documented. The goal of this project is to evaluate the performance of different common cover crops prior to and after soybean in the crop rotation at different fall planting dates and seeding rates across Illinois. With this data, regional recommendations can be refined to provide more detailed information on the relationship of planting date, winter survivability, and resulting spring stand of various cover crops. Furthermore, this data will improve seeding rate adjustment recommendations based on planting date and region to help producers achieve optimal performance of their cover crop.

We will conduct two strip trials at five locations across Illinois: 1) comparing different cereal rye seeding dates at different planting rates before soybean; and 2) comparing different planting dates of two clover species after soybean harvest.

The proposed outcomes are to 1) use research results to refine cover crop planting and seeding rate recommendations and best management practices; and 2) communicate this knowledge to Illinois farmers to support their cover cropping decisions.

The goal is to utilize this data to validate and potentially expand farmers’ confidence in the successful cover crop planting window, seeding rate, and termination timing. These two trials together will help refine how to best manage and maximize a cover crop system both before and after a soybean crop in a soybean/corn rotation. Farmers are always challenged with workload during the harvest season; with better data on planting date performance, they can prioritize cover crop planting at the appropriate time to ensure a successful stand. This information will expand knowledge of cover crop performance across the state, allowing farmers to increase success with cover crops and be able to make more educated decisions on when to plant, how much seed to plant, and when to terminate.