Equipment plays several critical roles in cover cropping systems. It is important to consider what equipment is available for seeding and terminating cover crops, as well as ensuring that equipment used for seeding and harvesting a cash crop is set up to ensure success of the cover crop and cash crop.
Setting up your harvest equipment is essential to achieving an even stand of cover crops. An even stand of cover crops is important to ensure effective and timely termination and consistent cash crop planting conditions.
Equipment settings to consider include:
- Residue spreader width
- Chopper residue sizing
- Header cutting height
- Chopping vs non-chopping corn heads
- Set row cleaners to move cover crop residue out of planting strip, but not to disturb soil.
- Ensure down pressure is adequate to place seed at consistent depth without causing sidewall compaction.
- Check disc openers for wear and replace if outside of manufacturer specifications.
- It may be beneficial to change closing wheel systems when switching to no-till and cover crops. Check with others to see what closing wheels are successful in your soil types.
- To prevent cover crops wrapping on planter parts, wait to plant 10-14 days after cover crop termination or terminate after planting.
