Using Cover Crops to Facilitate the Transition to Continuous No-till.

No-till systems provide many benefits for soil quality and erosion control as well as profitability for producers.  Many farmers still hesitate to use continuous no-till, however, preferring instead to use no-till for soybeans and some type of tillage for corn.  One of the reasons often given is that crop yields may suffer during the transition years between systems, as the new soil biological and physical properties develop.  This Conservation Innovation Grant project led by the Conservation Technology Information Center (CTIC) will demonstrate the potential for using appropriate cover crops to speed up the transition into a productive continuous no-till system.  Four producers each in Indiana and Ohio are evaluating their conventional system, continuous no-till without cover crops, and continuous no-till with cover crops, on a field just beginning to transition to continuous no-till.  Crop consultants and the project team will work with each producer to provide guidance on cover crop selection and management.  Soil quality will be assessed at the beginning and end of the three year project period.  The project will also further develop the regional cover crop selector tool in collaboration with the Midwest Cover Crops Council (www.mccc.msu.edu).  The selector tool will include a matrix of cover crop benefits and practical information about planting, timing, and managing the cover crop in different cropping sequences and niches.  On-farm workshops will be held during the first and third summers of the project.  This poster will present first-year activities of the project.