Submitted by Allan Sundermeier.
Excessive rainfall and prolonged ponding conditions this spring have resulted in many fields remaining unplanted to corn or soybeans this season. These “prevented planting” acres, while unfortunate for this year’s production, should be managed in ways to prevent further soil degradation and to increase soil productivity for next year. Cover crops are an excellent option for producers to consider for protecting their soil and increasing productive capacity for succeeding years. This article from Purdue University briefly describes the benefits of growing cover crops compared to leaving the soil bare and fallow, and then it provides guidance on selecting and seeding cover crops for prevented planting acres: https://ag.purdue.edu/agry/extension/Documents/PreventedPlantingCovers2015.pdf
Choose your cover crops, seeding dates and rates, with the following tools:
Indiana NRCS Cover Crops Seeding Calculator, calculate seeding rates for each species in a mix:
http://efotg.sc.egov.usda.gov/references/public/IN/IN_NRCS_Cover_Crops_Seeding_Calculator.xlsm