b'COVER CROP CORNERHOW COVER CROPS COULD CHANGE EVERYTHING FOR UKRAINES FIELDSIN JUNE Iwas invited to Ukraine by Roman Grynyshyn of Travelite Agro, in partnership with World to Rebuild Rural Ukraine, to join a team of agronomists and researchers from New Zealand, Germany and the United States. Our goal: visit fields, examine soil pits, and offer ideas to help corporate farms improve production practices.By Kevin Elmy We landed in Warsaw and drove to Lutsk. Elmy is founder of CoverSouth of the city near Verbska, we saw highly Crops Canada. His bookscalcareous soils where soybeans and corn domi-Cover Cropping in Western Canada and Not Justnated. Ploughing and deep ripping were routine, Dirt are available throughleaving behind compaction, poor infiltration, Friesen Press, Amazon,erosion, low biological activity, and dependence and digitally throughKevin Elmy visited Ukrainian fields, examined soil pits, and Apple Books, Kindle, andon fertilizers, herbicides and fungicides. offered ideas to help farms improve production practices.Google Play. For more infoIn Zaluzka and Mykhyrynetska, corn, barley, on Cover Crops Canadaand soybeans grew in soils with enviable AAlong the way, I was fortunate to be coached visit covercrops.ca horizons, but structure was destroyed by constantby Dr. Lyudmyla Sharma, who introduced me tillage. Highways were smooth, but secondaryto family-run farms succeeding with soil stew-roads were punishing. Under the microscope,ardship. These farmers used minimal or no saprophytic fungi were almost absentresiduesynthetics, relied on zero or reduced tillage, and was lifeless from fungicide overuse, tillage, andstill maintained profitabilitytrue models of the absence of cover crops. resilience.Hvardiiska offered more corn, with weedsAcross central and western Ukraine, life and disease troubling the thick black soils.appeared surprisingly normal despite the Russian Compaction again limited roots. Germaninvasion. Town squares carried memorials to agronomist York Bayer demonstrated soil coverfallen soldiers, checkpoints required passports, by watering bare soil and soil shielded with straw.and air raid warnings interrupted quiet moments. The cooling, moisture-saving effect was dramatic. Otherwise, fuel, food, lodging and transportation At Zhyhalivska, we encountered sunflowerswere available and safe. The people were warm, for the first time. Though picturesque, disease andthe food excellent and travel seamless.nutrient issues revealed the same underlying prob- What Ukraine needs most is our continued lems: tillage and lack of soil cover. In Baikivska,supportfinancial, equipment, and solidar-sandy soils supported our first winter wheat, pro- ityto keep its citizens safe and resist invasion. tected by shelter belts. Fragile soils showed the tollAgriculture is central to this resilience. Despite of tillage, and stressed corn plants wilted under athe challenges we observedcompaction, ero-hot sun, victims of evaporation losses. sion, disease and degraded biologythe will to Fedorivka stood out. The farm, also home toimprove was everywhere. I left convinced Ukraine Technopol machinery manufacturing, had seededwill rise stronger, rebuilding its soils and reclaim-a post-harvest cover crop. The difference wasing its place as the breadbasket of the world. striking: better soil armour, improved aggrega-tion, healthier sunflowers and predatory insects at work. Compaction remained, but decades of damage cant be undone in a year.Want to see more?Senkivska, a reclaimed wetland, revealedElevate your experience on unique challenges. Soil pits filled overnight withSeed World 360!water, and while worms were scarce, finding even three was proof they could survive. NOVEMBER 2025SEEDWORLD.COM/CANADA 33'