Blake Vince has devised several equipment modifications to manage seeding through thick residue.

How to plant into thick cover crops

Two farmers share their strategies for planting green

Accounting for corn stalks in the spring is one thing. Planting through thick green cover crops is another.  Standard planter setups don’t quite cut it in such cases. For Blake […] Read more


There are consistent yield benefits for following crops when wheat is in a rotation.

Finding the tools to build soil

Intensifying wheat production can help make the soil-building crop more profitable

Wheat and cover crops may not be the most profitable of cash cows, but the indirect benefits to grain growers’ bottom lines are significant.  Keeping winter wheat in the rotation, […] Read more

Cover crop systems can take five years to learn and establish.

Cash flow and cover crops

Adaptation and experience reduce upfront costs and improve returns

Cover crops are environmentally beneficial but to determine if they pay for themselves, growers need to provide detailed data on costs and revenue.  Aaron Breimer, general manager for Deveron’s Chatham-based […] Read more

Callum Morrison is conducting his doctoral research on cover crops.

Survey aims to build cover crop data

There’s lots yet to learn about cover crop use in Ontario

A survey conducted for the Ontario Cover Crops Steering Committee aims to improve understanding around levels of cover crop use in Ontario. The survey is open to the end of […] Read more



Cover crops were swathed at the South Dakota Lakes Research Farm and will be grazed over the winter.

Let nature direct ecosystem health

Researcher says agriculture needs to learn from how water, soil function in nature

I have learned more from observing Nature than by trying to change it,” said Dwayne Beck. Beck, the research manager at Dakota Lakes Research Farm (DLRF) in Pierre, South Dakota, […] Read more



Soil fungi numbers appear to be similar in different systems, but the types of fungi change, researchers have found.

Finding the right fungus

First steps taken to identify and promote fungi beneficial in cropping systems

Do you have fungus? Your fields certainly do, though the varieties vary based on several factors. While tillage levels, rotational diversity and cover crops affect fungi type, they don’t appear […] Read more

Cameron Ogilvie is knowledge mobilization co-ordinator with Soils at Guelph.

Cover crops reduce nitrate leaching

40-year rotation trials find diverse rotation makes for more resilient crops

Research findings released recently from the Soil Health Monitoring Station at Elora, Ont. suggest including cover crops in a rotation could significantly reduce nitrate leaching. Using soil lysimeters installed at […] Read more