Drought could reduce cover crop adoption

The head of the Midwest Cover Crops Council says rainfall can be a dividing factor for farmers in the region to adopt the conservation practice.

Senior program manager Anna Marrow tells Brownfield the increasing drought in the western Midwest can make it difficult to establish cover crops.  She says the farmers who can sometimes have to do so through irrigation but are finding more than just soil health benefits.

“Some folks are having a lot of success using a cover crop as a snow cash crop to retain moisture over the winter months and if they get enough growth, they can use it as a mulch in the summer,” she explains.

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