MSU Extension Cover Crops

The MSU Extension Cover Crops Team is working to expand this information available in this section over time, so please check back for updates.

Legumes

Red clover:

• Red Clover: Overview of use, establishment and management of red clovers in Michigan.
• Benefits of using red clover as a cover crop (December 2014)
• Effective termination of red clover (April 2011)
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Crimson clover:

• Crimson Clover: Overview of benefits, establishment and how crimson clover can be integrated into crop rotations

Annual medics:

• Annual Medics (Medicago spp.): Legumes closely related to alfalfa. They are true annuals flowering, setting seed and dying within one growing season (60 to 100 days). There are more than 35 known species of annual medics, all of which have their origins in the Mediterranean region.

Cowpea:

• Cowpea Production: Sample costs and benefits as a summer cover crop. Presentations of production costs and benefit analyses for cowpeas, based on the results of trials conducted by University of California researchers in the Coachella Valley in 1998.

Hairy vetch:

Grasses

Annual ryegrass:

• Tips for terminating an annual ryegrass cover crop (April 2016)

Cereal rye:

• Reasons to consider rye for a fall cover (Sept 2013)
• Soybeans can be aerial-seeded with cereal rye to protect your soils (May 2013)

Oats:

• Cover crop grazing with sheep: Lessons learned from recent MSU Extension demonstration event (December 2011)

Sorghum-sudangrass:

• Sudangrass and Sorghum-Sudangrass Hybrids: Comprehensive review of sudangrass and sorghum-sudangrass hybrids as cover crops, from Washington State University Cooperative Extension.
• Forage Sorghum-Sudan Grass: A complete guide to sorghum and sudangrass as cover crops, from the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, Ontario, Canada.

Brassicas and other broadleaf covers

Oilseed Radish:

• Oilseed Radish: Overview of benefits, establishment and management of oilseed radish.
• Oilseed Radish: A New Cover Crop for Michigan: A bulletin to help farmers manage oilseed radish cover crops in order to optimize those benefits and the efficiency of their farming systems. This publication summarizes results of studies conducted at the Michigan State University W.K. Kellogg Biological Station and the MSU Muck Research Farm, and in on-farm demonstrations. MSU Extension Bulletin E 2907.
• Manure Slurry-enriched Seeding of Biosuppressive Cover Crops:This article provides an update of on-going work by MSU researchers Tim Harrigan, Dale Mutch and Sieglinde Snapp in developing a manure application method that effectively incorporates cover crop seeding, manure application and low-disturbance aeration tillage.
• Oilseed Radish Variety Trial:  Evaluation of four oilseed radish varieties for seeding rate, leaf and root biomass, and population. An on-farm research demonstration.
• Effects of Nitrogen on Oilseed Radish: Evaluation of the influence of nitrogen on the growth of two oilseed radish varieties. An on-farm research demonstration.
• Early August is the time to etablish oilseed radish in sugarbeet rotations (August 2013)

Mustards:

• New video demonstrates management of mustard cover crops for biofumigation (December 2015)

Buckwheat:

• A comprehensive discussion of buckwheat, including its history, uses growth habits and more.
• General information on buckwheat from Cooperative Extension Service at the University of Hawaii at Manoa.
• A complete guide to buckwheat as a cover crop, from the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, Ontario, Canada.