MINNEAPOLIS — USDA-RMA has announced an important update to Prevent Plant guidelines by adjusting the final haying and grazing date from November 1 to September 1 for the 2019 season.
Note, be very strategic in what herbicides you use or be mindful of what you have used on prevent plant acres if you plan to hay or graze the cover crop so you do not run afoul of herbicide rotational restrictions (the amount of time you must wait after herbicide application before planting a cover crop for forage or grazing). More common species such as cereal rye, oats, barley, and wheat often have much shorter rotational restrictions compared to species like radish or turnip. Many cover crops may not be listed on the herbicide label, so would fall under the most restrictive rotational restriction. If you are planning to graze or hay the cover crop, you must follow rotational restrictions listed on the herbicide label while you have more flexibility if you are just planting the cover crop for soil health benefits since the cover crop will not enter for food or feed chain.
If you are considering a burn-down herbicide application before planting a cover crop for feed or forage, note Basagran has no rotational restrictions on the label while glyphosate has no rotational restrictions for most crops and only a 30-day rotational restriction for crops not listed on the label (e.g. forage sorghum, sudangrass). 2,4-D, Sharpen, Buctril, Resource, and dicamba also have short rotational restrictions (up to 30 days/1 month) for many crops.
If you are considering using leftover/unplanted soybean or corn seed in a cover crop mix on prevent plant acres, in Minnesota you can only plant these in a mix that has no more than 50% soybean and/or 50% corn to be in compliance with USDA requirements. Also note that there can be forage or grazing restrictions when using treated seed. For example, the grazing or feeding of soybean forage and hay for livestock when soybean was treated with ILeVo is not allowed according to the seed tag label. Also, do not graze or feed livestock on treated areas for 45 days after planting seed treated with Clariva Elite Bean. Check your seed tag label for any potential grazing or haying restrictions.
For further details and information about prevent plant and cover crop options see: https://extension.umn.edu/crop-production/crops-current-issues-and-highlighted-resources.
— Lizabeth Stahl, University of Minnesota Extension Educator – Crops
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