EAST LANSING, Mich. — Are you interested in adding cover crops to your farm, but not sure where to start? Cover crops provide cover to the soil when a crop is not there, and they feed soil microbes organic matter that in turn makes nutrients available to the next planting of crops. Other cover crop benefits include erosion prevention, addition of organic matter to the soil and weed suppression.
While many farmers are aware of cover crop benefits, it’s not always so easy to know how to include them into operations: which species to use, how to terminate the cover crop and which ones can serve a dual purpose as cover crop and forage.
If you want more information on cover crops, learn about different varieties or see how they perform, check out the series of field days, hosted by the MSU Extension Cover Crops Team. These events are an opportunity for producers and agriculture professionals to visit field sites to observe and discuss cover crop use, management, benefits and farming challenges. Join MSU Extension educators and producers at various locations throughout Michigan. At each location you can see over 30 varieties of cover crops growing on-farm!
Below is the list of field day dates and locations.
- August 21, 6:30 p.m. – Detroit Partnership for Food, Learning & Innovation, 16745 Lamphere St, Detroit 48219
- August 21 4:30-7:30 p.m. – Hillsdale County, 6011 W Territorial Rd, Camden, 49232
- August 22, 7:30 a.m.-3:00 p.m. – Hillsdale County, 14031 Broom Rd Waldron, 49288
- August 23, 9-11 a.m. – Kent County, 3758 15 Mile Rd, Kent City
- August 23, 10 a.m. – Detroit Partnership for Food, Learning & Innovation, 16745 Lamphere St, Detroit 48219
- August 26, 6-8 p.m. – Monroe Community College Agronomy Farm – 1555 S Raisinville Rd, Monroe, 48161
- August 27, 1-2 p.m. CT – Pleasant View Farms (Menominee County), 12698 US-41, Carney, 49812
- August 29, 5:30-7 p.m. – Urban cover crops, Beantown Garden (Ingham County), 430 S. Mifflin Ave, Lansing
- September 18, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. – Tilian, 4400 Pontiac Trail, Ann Arbor, 48105
- September 24, 10 a.m. – Sanilac County, 1½ miles north of the intersection of M-53 & M-46 and ¼ mile west on Upper Road
- September 25, 10 a.m. – Calhoun County, 24425 M-60, Homer 49245
- September 25, 5:30-7 p.m. – Kent County, 3758 15 Mile Rd, Kent City
- September 26, 8 a.m.-12 p.m. – Cover crops and research, Kellogg Biological Station, 3700 E Gull Lake Dr, Hickory Corners, 49060
- October 8, 6-8 p.m. – Urban cover crops, Beantown Garden (Ingham County), 430 S. Mifflin Ave, Lansing
- November 6, 9-11 a.m. – Kent County, 3758 15 Mile Rd, Kent City
- To be determined – Mecosta County
- To be determined – Midland County
As dates get closer, see the MSU Extension Cover Crops website for more information.
MSU Extension Cover Crops Team will be hosting, or partnering on, a series of field days and field walks, looking at a variety of cover crops and how they work in cropping systems.
This is an opportunity for producers and agriculture professionals to visit field sites to observe and discuss cover crop use, management, benefits, and challenges with MSU Extension educators and producers in various locations throughout Michigan.
We hope you can join us for one or more of these cover crop field day. As dates get closer, visit the Michigan State University Extension’s Cover Crops page for more information, or contact Dean Baas. If you have questions about cover crops and their use, contact anyone on the MSU Extension Cover Crop Team.
This work is supported by the Crop Protection and Pest Management Program 2017-70006-27175 from the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture. Any opinions, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the view of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
— Dean Baas, MSU Extension and Elizabeth H. Schultheis
For more news from Michigan, click here.