At the end of the season, the plants are mown down and left on the soil surface. This procedure is repeated each year. For fall-grown vegetables, a cover crop of forage soybean should be used, because hairy vetch does not grow in the summer. Plant the cover crop in April, and mow or roll it down by early August when the soybeans are about 5 feet high. Then, transplant your fall vegetable crop into the residue.
Erosion is stopped because without tilling, topsoil is preserved.
For farms on sloping land, like Groff's, this is invaluable. In 1996, Groff recorded yields of up to 40 tons per acre in his processing tomato fields. Boosted bottom line. Reduced inputs, disease, and insect pressure. Groff says that with a cover crop and the use of crop rotation, he has reduced overall use of herbicides, insecticides, and fungicides, mostly due to increased soil health.