This NebGuide describes how cover crops can be integrated into various cropping systems. Winter Rye Seeded Late Season for Continuous Corn Winter Rye - Hairy Vetch Planted for Seed Production in irrigationd Corn Cover Crops Seeded Late Season after Dry Edible Bean Harvest Cover Crops Spring Seeded to Provide Protection for Sugarbeets and Selected Vegetable Crops Agricultural producers are hearing more about cover crops, but many are unsure how such plants might be used in current crop production systems.
Cover crops are legumes, cereals or an appropriate mixture.
They are grown specifically to protect soil from erosion, protect emerging crops from blowing soil particles, improve soil structure, enhance soil fertility, reduce nutrient leaching, recycle nutrients and suppress weeds. A number of plant species could be used, but they must be successfully integrated into a diverse number of cropping systems used in Nebraska. Nebraska has many areas where cover crops can be valuable. First, there are the sandy soils in the Sandhills. Antelope, Holt, Madison, Pierce and Stanton counties have large acreages of these sandy soils in cultivated crop production.