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Cover crops won’t minimize fertilizer costs overnight
A cover crop advocate says management determines their success for farmers.
Pennsylvania farmer Steve Groff tells Brownfield cover crops are not a magical solution, farmers truly need to understand how to best use them as part of a long-term system, “Cover crops make good farmers better and bad farmers worse, and it’s because of the management component that you need to thoroughly understand,” he says.
As a cover crop coach, he recommends farmers start small to harness the benefits of improved soil health and added nutrients. He’s expecting even wider adoption moving forward with the high costs of inputs, “What’s going to be interesting is where this goes in the next one to two years, I don’t expect the prices to drop anytime soon,” he says.
In 1996, Groff tells Brownfield input prices were also high and he started to look at cost cutting alternatives like a roller crimper for his cover crops. Talking with dealers today, he says they’re sold out for 2022 as farmers continue to seek alternatives.
Brownfield’s Nicole Heslip interviewed Groff on maximizing cover crops to minimize fertilizer costs and more during the Ohio Conservation Tillage and Technology Conference.
