Extension's Role in Cover Crops

by Rick Koelsch, April 9, 2014

The role of cover crops in our Nebraska cropping systems and its contribution to the sustainability of our soil resources has been a conversation I have encountered in many places this winter.  Here are a few things I have learned and a few questions I have about Extension's future role.

What I have learned:

1. This is a topic that is equally of interest to main stream agriculture.  The Corn and Soybean Boards are willing to make some significant investments in this issue. Growers that I talked with at the Corn Grower's Association Board as well as at several Extension meetings this winter suggest that there is a plenty of questions from our most sophisticated farmers and very few answers coming from the University.
2. There are a small group of "early adopters" that know quite a lot about cover crops. These lessons have been learned from the school of "hard knocks". They may not be "replicated" experiences, but experiences we should not discount.
3. There is a "teachable moment" opportunity for the agricultural community on cover crops and soil health.
4. Our research and extension expertise in cropping systems has some catching up to do if we intend to be a part of this conversation.

 Gary Lesoing introduced me to two Nebraska producers who are experienced cover crop growers, Mike McDonald and Scott Gonnerman. I did not find them to be evangelists for the cover crops movement.  I did find them to be  knowledgeable and experienced individuals who are seeing benefits and have a sincere desire to learn more, possibly in partnership with UNL.  Here is what I heard from them about possible collaboration with UNL Extension:

1. There is a need for a cohort of farmers wanting to learn more about cover crops to have better opportunities to interact and share experiences.  Would UNL Extension want to be a part of this conversation and be willing to facilitate a gathering of this cohort with opportunities for sharing experiences and questions?
2. There is value in providing experienced cover crop growers the opportunity to share the lessons learned from their experience. Would UNL Extension partner with these  individuals to help share some of the lessons these individuals have learned.  With a lack of research based information for Nebraska (my observation), these experienced producers could be valuable partners as the the research is getting started.
3. Should our researchers be listening to these experience cover crop growers?  These field experiences might be a valuable guide to the research questions and answers that would be most beneficial to Nebraska.

I believe that the topic of Soil Health and the role of Cover Crops is an issue in which Extension needs to make an investment.  Who are the faculty that want to guide this investment?  What are the steps we can take to deliver solid information to our producers?  How can we collaborate with the more experienced cover crops growers?  How do we help the research community define the most critical questions for Nebraska to which we need answers?  I would like to know who would like to be a part of this conversation and some ideas on those first steps that might be most valuable.