What are the major challenges of a no-till roller system?
Anytime we are asked to learn a new process there are unexpected challenges to overcome. The no-till into cover crops system is no different. One of the challenges is matching the cover crop to the cash crop so that timing and planting date issues are avoided. For example, we no-till corn into legumes to take advantage of the free nitrogen. Typically on our farm, we use hairy vetch as our legume of choice, since it does well in our climate. However, many of the vetch varieties seem to flower later than we’d like, often delaying corn planting till early June. Some of are collaborators are breeding for earlier maturing varieties to remedy this problem. Another major challenge is to re-evaluate how you think about cover crops. They’re no longer “just a cover crop” but the most important component of your weed-management strategy and, in some cases, your primary source of nitrogen. Therefore your success in growing cash crops is directly dependent upon your ability to consistently grow exc
