Cover crops are becoming more mainstream as more growers are taking advantage of the benefits the practice has to offer.

As a result, the editors of Cover Crop Strategies are pleased to present the Spring 2022 National Cover Crop Summit on March 15-16. The Spring 2022 National Cover Crop Summit builds on five previous virtual events with a cover crop focus that have been attended by more than 5,000 growers from around the world. This free, two-day virtual event is the fifth biannual National Cover Crop Summit with a fantastic speaker lineup and heavy-hitting topics.

The 12 speakers for the 2022 National Cover Crop Summit include:

  • Loran Steinlage, Grower, West Union, Iowa — Crop Management Options for Cover Crops. Award-winning no-tiller Steinlage will share what technology is coming to manage cover crops between rows, cover crop management tips, and more.
  • David Brandt, Carroll, Ohio — Tips for Experienced Cover Crop Growers. Brandt has tips on how to take your cover crop use to the next level, discussing common cover crop challenges and how to overcome them, the benefits of long-term cover crop use, and much more.
  • Jim Hoorman, Hoorman Soil Health Services, Ohio — Making the Economics of Cover Crops Work for You. Agronomy expert Jim Hoorman shares how to make cover crops work financially for your operation, including seed costs, the economic value of soil organic matter, the costs of soil compaction, and more.
  • Wayne Fredericks, Grower, Osage, Iowa — Proof is in the Percentages with Cover Crops & Soil Health. Fredericks has reduced his use of fertilizers by 30% on his 750-acre farm, thanks to strip-till and cover crops. Since the 1980s, Fredericks has collected soil data to measure soil health, and found that his soil organic matter has increased by 2.5% in 25 years. Fredericks will share how his cash crops have remained competitive while utilizing covers, how cover crops have reduced nitrates in the water on his farm, how he’s built his farm up to 100% cover crop coverage, and more.
  • Dean Sponheim, Grower, Nora Springs, Iowa — Successful Aerial Seeding of Cover Crops. Sponheim discusses how to deal with common aerial seeding challenges, recommended establishment rates for aerial seeding, which cover crop species do best when aerial seeded, and more.
  • Barry & Eli Little, Growers, Castlewood, S.D. — Taking Cover Crops Full Circle: Integrating Covers with Livestock.  The father-and-son team will explain how their 2,500 acres of cropland and pastureland has improved using the soil health principles, including incorporating covers and ruminant animals on every acre, how their crop diversity has improved with cover crops, how they manage rotational grazing their cattle, and the economic benefits they’ve enjoyed from implementing covers and livestock.
  • Macauley “Mac” Kincaid, Grower, Jasper, Mo. — Improving Cattle Performance by Grazing Cover Crops. Kincaid utilizes cover crops to nearly graze his cattle year-round. He’s also built relationships with other local cattle producers to secure grazing leases as an additional source of income for his no-till operation, where he grows soybeans, corn, wheat and other cash crops. Kincaid’s 650-acre farm is 100% cover cropped with multispecies covers.
  • Andrew Frankenfield, Agronomy Extension Educator, Penn State University —Getting the Nuts & Bolts Right When Seeding Covers. Frankenfield will discuss multiple aspects of seeding cover crops, including when various species should be seeded in the late summer/fall, recommended seeding rates for popular cover crop species, how to go about selecting cover crop species to incorporate into a mix, and more.
  • Chris Proctor, Weed Science Educator, University of Nebraska Extension —Using Cover Crops in an IPM to Handle Hard to Control Weeds. Proctor discusses the role cover crops play in weed suppression, the relationship between tillage, herbicide resistant weeds and cover crops; how the seeding date and termination timing for covers can influence their weed control efficacy, and more.
  • Brian Ward, Organic Vegetable Specialist, Clemson University — Maximizing Covers in Vegetable & Organic Systems. Ward will discuss how to create crop rotations that include cover crops, how to optimize no-till and cover crops for weed management when growing vegetables or organic crops, and the benefits to soil health and fertility from using covers in these types of systems.
  • David Miller, Grower, Red Lake Falls, Minn. — Best Practices for Cover Crop Interseeding, Relay Cropping, & Polycropping. Miller will share his experiences with interseeding cover crops into corn and sunflowers, polycropping and relay cropping, and how their operation has had success with winter grazing cover crops.
  • Roy Pfaltzgraff, Grower, Haxtun, Colo. — When is a Cover Crop Not a Cover Crop? Pfaltzgraff will discuss how their operation has transitioned to continuous cropping with only 16 inches of average precipitation, integrating more than 14 crops, reducing herbicide and fertilizer use while increasing profitability and reducing risk.

To provide attendees with an educational experience to fit their specific needs and schedule, there are two registration options for this event: Register for free and gain access to the National Cover Crop Summit presentations for 2 days only, March 15-16.

While the National Cover Crop Summit is free to attend from March 15-16, an All-Access Pass is available for $49 and gives attendees 12 months of access to all event presentations, access to every session from past National Cover Crop Summits, plus a package of valuable attendee bonuses including Cover Crop Management reports offering practical tips and ideas on a variety of critical cover crop topics. Registration and program details can be found here.

Title sponsors making the National Cover Crop Summit possible include Montag Mfg., Kelly Tillage System, MidWest Bio-Tech, Underground Agriculture, Helm Agro US Inc., and Nufarm.