For growers who were unable to plant corn and/or soybean crops this year, there are a number of cost-effective options that are beneficial to future crops, according to Kevin Carlson, Federated’s agronomy sales manager.
Because unplanted fields quickly become weed beds that demand tillage or herbicide applications, cover crops are a valuable option; they can “suppress weeds, offer ground cover and support soil biology that will improve future crop yields,” said Carlson.
“Fallow syndrome is a phenomenon that happens when the soil is left bare … devoid of plant [non-weed] growth during the year … the soil biology starts to die off … many soil microbes depend on a living plant root host,” said Carlson.
One of these important soil fungi is mycoryzea; it helps crop plants find more phosphorous and zinc in the soil. These microbes are a massive extension of the plant root, but they start to die back when there is no crop/cover crop to help them survive.