Cover Crops: Planning for Next Year

Harvest is just about to begin for the 2016 crop here at Isbell Farms, but planning for next season has already begun.

We are looking forward to planting Cover Crops on a portion of our acreage this year.  After the rice is harvested, we will plant into the stubble a blend of grasses and legumes that will add beneficial nutrients and organic matter for next season.

While cover crops have been used in other rotations for quite awhile, it is a relatively new practice for rice farming, and we look forward to learning more as the process unfolds.

Step one will be to select the blend of seeds.  I hope to sit down with a consultant next week and accomplish that.  Then we will prepare for planting, which will likely be difficult since harvest is such a busy season already.  However, the hope of seeing benefits next season is worth the extra effort.