by Jason Johnson, State Public Affairs Specialist, USDA-NRCS, Des Moines
After years of struggling to consistently establish cover crops in the fall on cropland in Iowa’s northern tier counties, more than a dozen Allamakee County producers are participating in a new USDA-sponsored soil health demonstration project that - after one growing season - is showing promising results.
USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) awarded the Allamakee Soil and Water Conservation District (SWCD) $236,000 through a three-year grant to lead, manage and analyze a series of data from interseeding cover crops at the V4-V7 corn growth stages (June).
Interseeding allows cover crops to establish prior to corn canopy. After canopy, the cover crop can go dormant from being shaded out and then restart growth once the corn is harvested.