My First Cover Crop

Last weekend I was out to the farm to continue getting ready for harvest. My beans were not quite ready yet so it was good I had something to do. It is hard to see some farmers harvesting beans when yours are not dry enough to harvest. I did take pleasure in looking at my cover crop of oats though. This field was peas that were harvested much too late to think about a second crop of beans. I could not just leave the soil bare so I needed to plant something.

I did not have a grain drill to plant the oats so I had the Co-op air flow on 1.5 bushel an acre of oats. Then I disked the field to get the oats into the soil. The oats are now about a foot tall. It sure helped to get a couple rains after the oats were spread to get them germinated! I do not need to be concerned about how to terminate my cover crop of oats as Mother Nature will take care of that. They will be killed by the first frost. However, there will be plenty of residue to protect the soil this winter and next spring!