Ohio State updates Midwest Cover Crops Field Guide

Midwest farmers are always looking for ways to improve soil and water quality while increasing yield and lowering input costs.

The Midwest Cover Crops Field Guide, first published in 2012, has won multiple awards for helping farmers to do just that.

The guide contains material from the College of Food, Agricultural and Environmental Sciences at Ohio State University, including extension educators Jim Hoorman, Rafiq Islam, Sarah Noggle,  Randall Reeder, Alan Sundermeier and Curtis Young.

“This guide can offer really good insight to farmers on some of the benefits of using cover crops and how to grow them,” Hoorman said. “For those of us who helped to write the guide, the fact that so many farmers, growers and producers are using it is a validation and recognition of the good work that we are doing in this area. Hopefully, the guide is helping to increase the use of cover crops and helping farmers improve their soils. In the newest edition, we’ve added 30 additional pages with more useful information on how to use manure with cover crops and herbicide carryover issues with cover crops establishment.”

The guide includes information on how to introduce cover crops, and types of cover crops to plant based on the climate.