Category Archives: Nitrogen

No-till vegetables in New England

If I had a dollar for every time someone told me no-till vegetables aren’t possible in New England, I’d be… well, I’d have about $5. Still, if I had a dollar for every time someone told me it is possible in New … Continue reading

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Two ingredient cover crop cocktails

Someone branded cover crop mixtures as “cocktails” and it has stuck. Even NRCS has adopted the “cocktail” label: Regardless of what they’re called, the new multi-species mixtures are very exciting, results are intriguing, and these cocktails are probably the cover cropping … Continue reading

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Results are in: Radish 300, Phacelia 200, Weeds 50.

How much N can cover crops capture? Cover crops planted in late August of last year captured up to 300 kg of N per hectare (270 lb N per acre)! The experiment station in Clarksville, MD where they were planted … Continue reading

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Cover crops change everything.

There was a nice summary of Joel Gruver’s 12 ways to manage cover crops in Farm Futures. Joel has been working on cover cropping in the Midwest at Western Illinois University, but got his start in  Maryland. One of his … Continue reading

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Deep Nitrogen and Cover Crop Nutrient Recycling: Part II

We saw that radish can capture deep soil nitrate in fall and store the nitrogen in its biomass. After the radish dies, when does the nitrogen become available for subsequent cash crops? One of the concerns with some traditional cover … Continue reading

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Deep Nitrogen and Cover Crop Nutrient Recycling: Part I

This gallery contains 4 photos.

Soil testing can provide us with helpful indications of the nutrient status of fields, but most soil samples consist of just the topsoil. What’s happening below the topsoil can be critical to both successful farming and environmental stewardship. Many cash … Continue reading

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