Cover crop aerial seeding

coonie minnie

Well-known Member
We are working with a farmer group to put cover crops on soybean and corn ground with a helicopter. Thought you all might like this picture... does have an old tractor!
a171659.jpg
 
That is a great idea. Post back latter and let us know how it worked out. I would like to do the same but my farm is all in strips and they are to small to seed like that. I would like to seed the rye into standing corn then after harvest turn my beef cows in. We cleaned about 600 bu of rye yesterday to sell and have 1000 bu more to clean and sell yet. Tom
 
They seed it with a plane around here. I always have patches in my fields from the neighbors having theirs seeded. One year we had turnips growing in the barn gutter.
 
Down at my other place the guy that rents the farm seeded Crimson Clover in standing corn with an airplane couple years ago, there was Crimson Clover all over his place and everywhere else for about 1/4 mile around
the next Spring.
 
That can be an issue. We are doing all big seeded cereals, so hopefully there is a little less off target application !
 
I run a cover under my small grains, but a whopping 10-15 acres.

I put some urea on ten acres of corn when I could still drive through the corn, I threw in a back of cover crop mix to see what happens. Certainly my one bag will be too light to matter, but just to see if anything comes of it. Good side we had lots of rain this year. Bad side we have so very many weed escapes it's hard to see anything else out there, not sure the cover crop can compete with the weeds, much less the corn.

I see more cover crops use behind peas and sweet corn up here.

I use my few acres for cattle grazing.

Still wrapping my head around the good of it for just plowdown in a northern climate. I want to believe in the positives, but in my short cold growing season, long winters, it's not like we get a green bridge anyhow up here, we get an ice and snow bridge. For decades we're we're taught anything not a crop plant is robbing your grain yield, and even the crop plants that are behind are robbing yield.

Now we intentionally plant stuff in the crop.

Paul
 
Obviously an inexperienced pilot. I have a neighbor who hires an airplane to plant cover crops on his corn and soybean acreage and the coverage is right on the money. Been doing it for years.
 
These aren't huge wild open fields like in the midwest but no one objects to some Crimson Clover growing on their place anyway except maybe some nut that doesn't want clover in their yard.
 

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