Cover crops coming through as best farming practice

Ryan Perish of the Minnesota Department of Agriculture points out some of the experiments being done in Byron Township regarding nitrogen seepage. He said data is showing that cover crops are one of the best practices for farmers to follow, using peas, soybeans, seed potatos and small grains such as barley to maintain a minimum amount of commercial fertilizer needed for corn crops.

Kent Solberg of the Sustainable Farming Association of Minnesota told the tour about some of the success stories in cover crops. For example, during a dourght year a North Dakota farmer’s corn field yielded 29 bushels per acre higher than the 10 year county average, using cover crops, grazing cattle, no till and no commercial fertilizer. He said a new enterprise in farming is for row crop farmers to enter mutually beneficial deals with cattle producers to grace their cover crops. (Staples World photos by Mark Anderson)

Brian Boyne of Minnesota Valley Irrigation demonstrates how an ipad can remotely control the irrigation system during the Central Lakes College Ag and Energy Center’s field day on Aug. 26. Boyne said the ipad can also gather data from moisture detectors in the soil and rain detectors. The system can also shut off individual sprinklers when it travels over a wet spot or can pulse the sprinkler to lower the water rate in that spot.

Boyne said the biggest advantage of the system is that farmers can save a lot of time by not having to drive to every field, and can operate the system from their truck, tractor or any remote location. From any location, the ipad can be checked to see that the system is still working and will send updates to say how far it has moved and when it has stopped.

There were other ag demonstrations as part of the field day, including CHS’s demonstration of precision agriculture, including electronic mapping of a field that can be programmed into a planter for specific in-furrow starter treatments.