My Cover Crop Saga, A Work in Progress

[Westwind]

Something just doesn't seem right to be drilling into a carpet of newly-emerged grass.

I feel like we are going to get some good advice on this!

I really hope to get to a point where I am mostly herbicide free but at this point it feels like it’s pretty far down the road.

 

[Foggy47]

^ I feel your pain. The first year I bought my drill I got a good fall planting of winter rye, brassica and clover. Looked great in Fall and in Spring. Then I rolled the rye early and did some light disking before planting a "summer release". I was trying to gain some biomass.....before doing my typical fall planting of rye, brassica and clover again.

The problem for me was a summer-long drought right after I planted the summer release. No rain till fall and I just grew weeds in the now compromised plots. Decided that I had too short of growing season and too frequent of summer droughts to gamble with a summer release plan. I'm in USDA zone 3.....and we simply do not get enough good growing days to do multiple plantings.

Now I wait until July to roll my rye and then I will nuke some strips with glyphosate before drilling brassica for a fall attraction. In other areas I just drill some brassica into the existing clovers and get some fall treats mixed into my clover plots. In late August I broadcast and / or drill all my ground with winter rye, and some replacement clover, again. No more summer release ideas here at this point.

Edit: ^ The point is.....the soil always remains covered and I conserve the moisture in the roots established. If I lose my mulch or cover crops to tillage I may get clobbered with weeds.....and the vicious cycle that follows.

 

[S.T.Fanatic]

Weather. Timing. Plant. Till. Spray. What to do and when, and praying for the weather we want.

A sure sign of an amateur with little experience our game - remarking "just make sure you plant your seed just ahead of a good rain"; as if we had any effing idea that the drought would begin the moment the last cultipacker pass was complete.

In June and July, it rained at some point in time nearly every damned day. Ever since mid-August or so, barely a trace.

Question for anyone - given my war with coolseason grasses, is there any downside to an application of clethodim/crop oil next spring prior to planting another summer mix? Something just doesn't seem right to be drilling into a carpet of newly-emerged grass.

Fall is a great time to work on controlling cool season grasses. I would not wait to get a start on it until next spring. I would do an application of cleth now. Depending on what you want to plant next year will make the decision for you on what to plant this year as your "cover crop" If it was me battling drought I'd be looking for something like chicory and or alfalfa. I would also be looking into sainfoin. It is another legume that does well in dry conditions. It is usually a single cut perennial crop and is best planted in the spring so that is one thing you could consider for next spring. Winter cereals are a great option for places that get plenty of rain. However for places that do not it is a heavy user of moisture. Farmers in our area have had problems with it in springs that we do not get much rain taking up to much of the available moisture. If you do go that rout id kill it off early next year.