Summer Nutrient Stewardship Field Day

With proper management and planning, cover crops can contribute to a farming system that can benefit a farm economically and environmentally.

Clinton County farmer Mark Litteken demonstrated this on his cattle and row crop operation during Clinton County Farm Bureau’s Summer Nutrient Stewardship Field Day hosted in partnership with Illinois Farm Bureau.

Litteken has participated in the Clinton CFB cover crop project to provide information and insight into cover cropping systems in Clinton County, so farmers can see what might work on their farms to help address issues such as nutrient loss and erosion. The Clinton County project received a grant from the IFB Nutrient Stewardship Grant Program, which supports projects throughout the state focused on improving soil health and water quality. Furthermore, the Clinton CFB project has also been supported through local partner matching dollars and in-kind support of time and information sharing.

“We’re keeping nutrients in place with cover crops,” said Litteken. “Cover crops can be management-intensive, but they give you options.”

For Litteken, this includes the option of growing forage for his cattle and also grazing his cattle on fields to capture their outputs as additional nutrients for the crops. The project is also figuring out the economic data of this system to prove how the finances of cover cropping work for Litteken’s farm.

Providing the right cover crops for the soil, the field and the cattle is key. To make sure he’s using the right cover crop mixes, Litteken works closely with Cliff Schuette of Schuette Seeds.

“In our cover crop mixes, we have different types of leaves to better capture sunlight and different roots that effect soil in different ways,” said Schuette. “A mix of at least a grass, a broadleaf and a legume provides the best opportunities for soil and forage quality.”

Drone application of these mixes helps farmers cover an entire field more evenly and gives many an opportunity to seed earlier in fall. Local drone applicators L & R Ag provided a demonstration of their drone application over a cornfield showing how even in wind gusts, the drone is able to direct seed down onto a field. Litteken and Schuette agreed that evaluating options for seeding is key to planting cover crops at the ideal time.

Litteken and fellow cover crop farmers also advised others who are thinking about adding cover crops to be patient. Cover crops may be challenging to figure out initially, but if they’re managed well, they can provide ideal conditions for the following cash crop. Overall, the group concurred that cover crops used in the right system and managed correctly can be a successful addition to a farm.

Mitchell Hora, a seventh-generation farmer and owner/founder of Continuum Ag, agreed with this. In addition to sharing what he’s found to work on his Iowa farm, Hora also discussed the importance of farmers knowing the value of these kinds of practices — at the farm gate and in carbon and sustainability incentive programs.

Hora shared that as more industries look to meet sustainability goals, many companies are going to look to their supply chains to reduce their carbon footprint. Data is how companies will create value for their products, and the farmers’ data will become part of this greater story of low carbon production.

Hora concluded that farmers who are already using practices like cover crops will be a step ahead of others as they will already know how to use a cover crop system on their farm to be successful in these changing environments.

“It’s important that you position your farm for success and to be resilient — economically and in changing the environment.”

This event was part of IFB’s Nutrient Stewardship Field Days, which share ongoing research funded by the IFB Nutrient Stewardship Grant Program. To read more about IFB’s nutrient stewardship field days, visit www.ilfb.org/fielddays.