If you recently declared prevent plant on your acres, one thing you don’t want to do is let those fields get away from you this growing season. I represent Stine in areas of southwestern Indiana, western Kentucky and southern Illinois, and I can tell you that with as much moisture as we’ve had this spring and early summer, growers who declared prevent plant need to watch those acres for the onset of weeds, compaction and erosion. Here a few recommendations I tell my growers in times like these.
- Don’t leave the soil untouched. A lot can happen to a seedbed that’s been left untouched, which will make it a headache to plant the following year. One of the main things I caution growers about is weed pressure. Simply put, when there’s no competition for resources, weeds will take advantage. They will spread, making those acres more susceptible to those same weeds the following year.
- Understand the advantages to cover crops. It may be too late to get your corn in the ground, but there are a lot of full-season cover crops that growers can still take advantage of. There are a lot of advantages to planting a cover crop. In fact, the USDA recently moved the date for haying, grazing or chopping cover crop acres to September 1 to accommodate growers who had to turn to preventative planting this season because of excess moisture. Cover crops to consider include annual ryegrass, millet, oats and legumes, which can be relatively inexpensive to plant and provide good ground coverage to help manage those soils through 2020. Cover crops also provide an extra barrier from soil erosion if we continue to receive excess moisture through the growing season and can help build and maintain soil health.
- Consider tillage. If you forgo a cover crop on your prevented plant acres, please don’t forget tillage. Tillage will not only break up that seedbed to eliminate the risk of compaction, it will also stop weeds from achieving seed set. However, first make sure your fields are in the right condition before you till. According to the Ohio State University College of Food, Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, tillage should be done only when soil is dry to avoid compaction.
For more tips to help manage your prevent plant acres this year, contact your local Stine sales agronomist or extension office.