Published Feb 17, 2016

5 Cover Crops Questions Answered

By Nick Ohde
Tim Sieren, cover crops, rye

Tim Sieren presents in front of a rye field at a 2014 PFI field day at his farm, Green Iron Farm, near Keota. He grows the rye for cover crop seed.

Do you have questions about how to fit cover crops onto your farm? PFI member Tim Sieren, who runs a small, diversified farm raising corn, soybeans, hogs, cattle and small grains, near Keota, shares some of the things that work for him in the article “Cover Crops Questions” in the February issue of Wallaces Farmer.

In the article, he shares his answers to the following questions:

  1. What effect do cover crops have on cash crops?
  2. Which cover crops should I choose to plant?
  3. How much time does it take to benefit my soils?
  4. How and when do I get a good stand established?
  5. How and when do I terminate?