Trade Association recently released results from the 2017 Cover Crop Survey Analysis. The survey, which had 2,012 respondents, showed that the number of acres planted in cover crops has nearly dou- bled in the past five years. “In this year’s survey, farm- ers said they committed an average of 400 acres each to cover crops in 2016, up from 217 acres per farm in 2012. They expected to increase their cover crop planting in 2017 to an average of 451 acres,” reports CTIC. Of the farmers surveyed, 88 percent reported plant- ing cover crops. Those that planted cover crops say: corn yields increased an average of 2.3 bushels per acre, soybeans yields increased 2.1 bushels per acre and wheat yields increased 1.9 bushels per acre. “Among cover crop users, we are seeing great enthusi- asm for the soil health benefits ... with a widespread apprecia- tion for the long-term ben- efits,” says Chad Watts, CTIC executive director. “We’re also seeing openness to practices like inter-seeding and planting green, which raises cover crop use to the next level in terms of creating new options for species and seed mixes, and new opportunities to get even greater benefits from their covers. No-till While no-till isn’t in the spot- light near as much as cover crops these days, it’s another method farmers are adopting to help improve the soil health on their farms. The last Census of Agriculture, conducted in 2012, showed that of the 279 million acres of tillable crop- land in the United States, 96 million acres were no-till. “By leaving the soil mostly undisturbed and leaving high levels of crop residue behind, soil erosion is almost eliminated,” says Nicholas Staropoli, associate direc- tor of the Genetic Literacy Project and director of the Epigenetics Literacy Project. “The utilization of crop resi- dues in no-till farming also drastically increases water infiltration and there- fore retention by the soil. This means there is less runoff of contaminated water, as well as a reduction in the amount of watering necessary for a given crop.” Staropoli adds that some estimates suggest crop residues provide as much as 2 inches of additional water to crops in late summer. It’s also documented that no-till farmed soils have a water penetration rate of 5.6 inches per hour, twice as much as for conventionally tilled land. The list of benefits of no-till and cover crops could go on, but these benefits also come with their share of challenges for farmers. Obstacles to Overcome “What we see in a no-till situ- ation is cooler, wetter soils, because not as much sunlight is getting through,” says Dale Ireland, Syngenta Seedcare technical product lead for U.S. corn and soybean. “This poses a challenge for germination and uniform emergence, and ultimately stand establish- ment. Soils need to be around 50 degrees Fahrenheit for corn seed to begin germinating, and that number jumps to about 60 degrees for soy- beans, Ireland says. “This means farmers who use no-till and cover crops generally plant a little later than those who don’t deploy these practices,” Ireland says. “That’s typically not an issue, unless we get into a touch- and-go season where things get backed up.” These colder, wetter and undisturbed soils, with increased residues on top, are havens for disease and insects — just waiting for the seed to be put in the ground. According to the University of Missouri’s Einar Palm, an Extension plant patholo- gist, “A critical factor affect- ing the extent and severity of diseases is the survival of disease-causing organisms in crop residues.” The situation is even more challenging if a farmer is planting corn-on-corn in a no-till environment and/or is using cover. “When a crop is grown continuously, certain fungi and bacteria increase and inten- sify in crop residues,” Palm explains. “For example bacte- rial blight, anthracnose, brown spot, charcoal rot, downy mildew, pod and stem blight, purple seed strain and others affecting soybeans become more serious in continuous soybeans and when residues are not covered.” Both Ireland and Palm agree that using high quality seed treated with a fungicide will help protect the seed against diseases. BASF conducted field trials throughout the U.S. during the 2006 and 2007 growing “What we see in a no-till situation is cooler, wetter soils, because not as much sunlight is getting through.” — Dale Ireland Dale Ireland, Syngenta Seedcare technical product lead for U.S. corn and soybeans OCTOBER 2017 SEEDWORLD.COM / 25