Tennessee Farmers Use Cover Crops For Better Soil
In partnership with: Tennessee Department of Agriculture
Soil that lies bare becomes vulnerable to erosion, loss of nutrients, loss of moisture and invasion of weeds. Tennessee farmers have taken action to protect the soil, stewarding their lands well with the strategic planting of cover crops and pasture forage.
What Are Cover Crops?
Cover crops are the plants farmers grow to safeguard the soil.
“The four principles of soil health start with keeping a growing root in the soil,” says Alex Miller, CEO of Lick Skillet Farm in New Market. “Then, keep armor on the soil, maximize diversity and minimize disturbance.”
Cover crops and pasture forage are the armor. They’re used differently on farms that grow row crops and farms that only graze livestock, but the goal and effects are similar. They contribute to healthy soil by protecting it from erosion, moisture loss and nutrient depletion.
Which Crops Work Best?
For the last 20 years on Essary and Cherry Farms in Milledgeville, the two families have grown cover crops to maintain healthy soil for the primary row crops they produce.
“We’ve tried different species, different blends, different planting dates and different termination dates,” Jason Cherry says. “We’ve come up with a five-way blend that works for us.”
That blend may include Austrian winter peas, crimson clover, tillage radishes, spring oats, and kale or purple-top turnips. Occasionally, they’ll add sunflowers.
“The spring oats die off in the cold of winter, then the clover, legumes, turnips and kale grow,” Cherry says. “Winter peas come in the springtime, then we kill those and plant our corn and soybeans.”
Lick Skillet Farm raises livestock.
“What we do is different from traditional cover crop use,” Miller says. “We never remove the crop; instead, the livestock harvest it. We’re always raising pasture forage – cool and warm season forage, and forage that’s between the two. We use the term ‘annuals’ to describe the wheat, turnips and radishes we plant whenever we have thin pastures and need more cover on the soil. Planting annuals helps us keep a growing root year-round, following the principles of soil health.”
In Hillsboro, Don Willis and his family also use regenerative and sustainable practices to keep the soil healthy on Willis Farms, a multigenerational operation growing corn, soybeans, wheat, barley and cattle.
“We’re using a six-way mix this year,” Willis says. “It changes some from year to year, but we’re mixing barley, wheat, a daikon radish, winter peas and blossom clover.”
Why Use Cover Crops?
Preventing erosion is a significant benefit of cover crops. Another is increasing the soil’s organic matter.
“Cover crops capture excess nutrients after a row crop is harvested,” Cherry says. “We don’t leave a field bare to run off down to the stream. We plant cover crops to capture nutrients, replenish the soil, and leave the ground soft and fertile.”
Cover crops also suppress many herbicide-resistant weeds, cut down on farmers’ fertilizer costs, increase biodiversity, convert atmospheric nitrogen into nitrogen plants can use and raise the soil’s capacity for holding moisture.
For farmers who raise livestock, the advantages extend to grazing.
“Being able to graze through the winter has been really good for our cattle program,” Willis explains. “Hay is a significant expense, so we save a great deal by having the cattle graze on cover crops. We’ve found our animals are also healthier and grow faster when consuming cover crops.”
Miller sees similar results on the other side of the state.
“We’re a grass-based operation, and good pastures go hand in hand with soil health,” Miller adds. “Good, healthy soil produces more nutritionally dense meat. Soil health is absolutely critical.”
