Cover Crops

Depending on your needs and the cover crop(s) you plant, you can enhance water retention and infiltration, decrease erosion, amp up organic matter, extend grazing seasons… and so much more. 

Let the SDSU Extension team put research-based information to work and help you decide the best cover crop(s) to meet your production goals.

Upcoming Events

a wordmark for the sustaining the legacy conference
Dec 02

Sustaining the Legacy - Virtual Conference

Passing on the ranch to the next generation is going to happen, ensure the transition accomplishes your goals.

Related Topics

Sorghum, Cover Crops, Field Pea, Forage, Oats, Planting Soybeans, Growing Soybeans, Planting Wheat, Growing Wheat

Related Content

Small herd of mixed cattle grazing rangeland in late fall.

S.D. Producers’ Willingness To Adopt Patch Burn Grazing vs. Winter Patch Grazing

Patch-burn grazing and winter patch grazing are heterogenous rangeland management practices that aim to increase the diversity of grass composition to benefit wildlife and maintain livestock production. To learn about producers’ desire to adopt these practices, we conducted an online survey between November 2019 and January 2020.

Two rows of corn at V5 leaf growth stage looking down from above. Between the corn rows there are 3 separate cotton strips placed on the soil surface just before burial in a 2-inch-deep trench. The cotton strips are numbered for their identification after recovery at three different dates.

Cotton Strip Soil Test: Rapid Assessment of Soil Microbial Activity and Diversity in the Field

Soil has always been considered as a living system due to its biological components: fungi, bacteria and plant roots. Under several ongoing research projects, we started researching how we can use ‘cotton strip assay’ to compare different cover crop mixes to optimize field soil activity and build up better soil health.

Earthworms on the soil surface inside a white hard-plastic ring, after mustard-vinegar solution was drained down through the soil profile forcing earthworms out onto the surface in order to be counted.

How’s Life in the Soil? Ask (Count) the Earthworms.

Earthworms are ‘very special’ creatures on earth, and their contribution in soil nutrient cycling and fertility management has been acknowledged from the beginning of agriculture. So, the question needs to be asked, how can we help improve earthworm populations?