1. Planning the Planting of
Cover Crops and Cash
Crops
Daniel Parson
Parson Produce
404.452.4321
www.parsonproduce.com

6. Parson Produce
• The Farmhouse B & B is 40 acres
• 3.25 acres vegetable and cut flower
• Small Apiary
• 300 shiitake logs
• Applying for organic certification

7. Parson Produce Marketing
• 75 member Community Supported
Agriculture (CSA)
• Restaurants:
– Stella s Southern Bistro
– High Cotton Greenville
– American Grocery
• Live Oak Farm Store and Swamp
Rabbit Café and Grocery
• TD Saturday Market, Greenville

8. Why Rotations?
• Required for certified organic
• Reduce pest pressure
• Reduce weed problems
• Improve crop fertility
• Reduce crop disease
• Include cover crops in production

9. Certified Organic
The producer must manage crop
nutrients and soil fertility through
rotations, cover crops, and the
application of plant and animal
materials

10. What is a Cover Crop?
A cover crop is grown to support the
production of other crops; not for
harvest. Cover crop residue is left on
the surface in a no-till system or
incorporated into the soil in a tillage
system.

11. Pest Control
• Biodiversity
• Cover crops attract beneficials
• Break cycles of infestation
Example: soil-borne nematodes that are
plant-family specific

12. Buckwheat Blooming

13. Syrphid Flies

14. Natural Enemy Habitat

15. Beneficial Insects
Assassin Bug Lacewing Eggs
Predatory Syrphid Fly
Stink Bug
Photos by Debbie Roos
http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/chatham/ag/SustAg/index.html

16. Beneficial Insects
Big-Eyed Bug Minute Pirate Bug
Newport News Master Gardeners
From University of Nebraska-
Lincoln/Photo by Jack Dykinga,
image from the USDA Agricultural
Research Service.

17. Weed Control
• Crop/weed timing
• Diverse cultivation methods
• Cover crops as smother crops
Example: cultivation of winter squash
before vines extend

18. Weed Management

19. Crop Fertility
• Certain crops deplete certain nutrients
• Some crops make nutrients more
available
• Cover crops
• Different crop fertilization strategies

20. Crop Fertility
Example: adding compost to one crop,
followed by one that needs well-
decomposed organic matter
Example: straw mulch on tomatoes
increases organic matter for
following crop

21. Fertility Management

22. Disease Control
• Break the cycle of soil-borne disease
• Keep disease from building up
• Increase beneficial microorganisms
• Pathogens with limited host range
• Pathogens without airborne spores

23. Diseases Poorly Controlled
• Damping off
• Verticillium wilt (300+ susceptible)
• Anthracnose - beans, cukes, peppers
• Fusarium - tomatoes, peas, melons,
dahlias
• Root knot nematodes - corn, lettuce,
tomatoes

24. Disease Management

25. What is a Good Cover Crop?
• Legumes
– Nitrogen fixation (70-200 lb/acre N)
• Grasses
– Add biomass (1-5 ton/acre dry)
– Conserve nutrients
• Other vigorous growers

26. How to Plant Cover Crops
• Minimal tillage to clean field and cover
– Fine seed on surface
– Larger seed sow before final cultivation
• Achieve full coverage
• Encourage vigorous germination
• Consider following crop

30. How to Plow in Cover Crops
• Early bloom stage before seed sets
• Mow and shred
• Allow to dry and shrink
• Shallow tillage to incorporate
• Wait 4 weeks before direct seeding

32. Warm Season Legumes
• Soybean
– Upright easy to grow
• Velvet bean (up to 200#N/acre)
– Climbing vines love heat
– Requires cultivation or companion
planting
• Cowpea (100-150#N/acre)
– Vigorous vines love heat

33. Velvet Bean

34. Warm Season Grasses
• Sudan/Sorghum (4-5 tons/acre dry)
– Great biomass
– Requires mowing
• Pearl millet
– Shorter stature
• Browntop millet
– Short season

35. Sudan/Sorghum

36. Warm Season Broadleaves
• Buckwheat (1-1.5 ton/acre dry)
– Short season
– Prolific blooms attract beneficial insects
– Cycles Calcium
• Sunflower
– Great scaffold for climbers
– Possible harvest with non-climbers

37. Cool Season Legumes
• Crimson Clover (70-130#N/acre)
– Rich in N and blooms
• Fava bean
– banner for N and biomass
• Hairy Vetch (90-200#N/acre)
• Austrian Winter Pea

38. Crimson Clover, Fava Bean
and Rye

39. Hairy Vetch

40. Austrian Winter Peas

41. Cool Season Grasses
• Cereal or Grain Rye
– Great height
– Winter hardiness
• Oats
– Early biomass and semi winter-hardy
• Wheat
– Smaller stature, hardy

42. Primary Mixes--Summer
• Buckwheat, Soybean, and Sudan
– Early bloom of buckwheat
– Mow when soybeans bloom
• Buckwheat alone in sequence
– Short season cover
– Constant bloom for insects

43. Buckwheat, Soybean, Sudan

44. Primary Mixes--Winter
• Rye and hairy vetch
– More biomass formed
– Precedes later season crops
• Oats and Crimson Clover
– Precedes spring crops
– Better N source for short crops

45. How to Design a Rotation
• Measure and map your fields
• Divide into equal-sized ‘rotational
units’
• Group cash crops: family, seasonality
• Create rotational plan outline
• Fill in with cover crops
• Create detailed field plan

46. How to Design a Rotation
• Measure and map your fields
• Divide into equal-sized ‘rotational
units’
• Group cash crops: family, seasonality
• Create rotational plan outline
• Fill in with cover crops
• Create detailed field plan

47. 212 Feet
225 Feet 225 Feet
325 Feet
225 Feet

48. How to Design a Rotation
• Measure and map your fields
• Divide into equal-sized ‘rotational
units’
• Group cash crops: family, seasonality
• Create rotational plan outline
• Fill in with cover crops
• Create detailed field plan

49. 8
12
7
11
13
6
10
5
9
4
3
2
1

50. How to Design a Rotation
• Measure and map your fields
• Divide into equal-sized ‘rotational
units’
• Group cash crops: family, seasonality
• Create rotational plan outline
• Fill in with cover crops
• Create detailed field plan

51. Plant Families
• Cucurbitaceae - squash, melons,
cucumbers, lufa, pumpkins,
• Solanaceae - tomato, pepper, eggplant,
potato
• Convolvulaceae - sweet potato
• Malvaceae - okra, cotton
• Asteraceae - lettuce, sunflower, endive
• Chenopodiaceae - spinach, beet, chard

52. Plant Families
• Brassicaceae - cabbage, broccoli,
cauliflower, collards, kale, brussel sprouts,
arugula, boc choi
• Apiaceae - carrot, celery, fennel, cilantro
• Fabaceae - snap beans, peas
• Lilliaceae - garlic, onion
• Poaceae - rye, oats, sudangrass

53. Timing of Crop
• Planting through harvest
• Over-wintering or perennial
• Consider double cropping
• Cover crops and incorporation

54. Spring and Fall
• Carrots and Beets
• Broccoli
• Cabbage, Kohlrabi, Kale
• Potatoes (Spring only)
• Arugula, Turnips, Lettuce, etc.

55. Summer
• Beans and Flowers
• Peppers and Eggplant
• Cucumbers and Squash
• Tomatoes
• Sweet Potatoes
• Okra
• Melons

56. Overwintering
• Garlic
• Various Cover Crops

57. How to Design a Rotation
• Measure and map your fields
• Divide into equal-sized ‘rotational
units’
• Group cash crops: family, seasonality
• Create rotational plan outline
• Fill in with cover crops
• Create detailed field plan

58. Arrange Crops
• Note-card method
• Blank grid method: column names
– Field Number
– Crops and Cover Crops
– Winter, Spring, Summer, and Fall

59. 8
12
7
11
13
6
10
5
9
4
3
2
1

60. Field Rotation Plan 2012
Field Crop Season
Winter
1 Broccoli Spring
Soybeans/Buckwheat Summer
Carrots and Beets Fall
Rye Aisles Winter
2 Potatoes Spring
Sudex/Soybeans Summer
Garlic Fall
Winter
3 Spring
Late Flowers/Beans Summer
Wheat/Crimson Clover Fall
Winter
4 Spring
Okra Summer
Rye/Hairy Vetch Fall
Winter
5 Spring
Peppers/Eggplant Summer
Oats/Winter Peas Fall
Winter
6 Arugula and Lettuce Spring
Soybeans/Buckwheat Summer
Cabbage and Kale Fall
Rye/Crimson Clover Winter
7 Cucumbers/Squash Spring
Summer
Oats/Winter Peas Fall
Winter
8 Carrots and Beets Spring
Soybeans/Buckwheat Summer
Broccoli Fall
Rye/Clover Winter
9 Sweet Potatoes Spring
Oats and Clover Summer
Fall
Winter
10 Cabbage and Kale Spring
Buckwheat Summer
Arugula and Lettuce Fall
Wheat Aisles and Crimson Clover Winter
11 Spring
Early Flowers and Beans Summer
Rye and Hairy Vetch Fall
Winter
12 Spring
Melons Summer
Rye and Crimson Clover Fall
Winter
13 Tomatoes Spring
Oats and Winter Peas Summer
Fall

61. How to Design a Rotation
• Measure and map your fields
• Divide into equal-sized ‘rotational
units’
• Group cash crops: family, seasonality
• Create rotational plan outline
• Fill in with cover crops
• Create detailed field plan

62. 8
12
7
11
13
6
10
5
9
4
3
2
1

63. Field 1 Layout
Scarlet Nantes Carrots/ Cherry Belle
Chioggia Beets Radish Chioggia Beets Leaf Mulch
Scarlet Nantes Carrots/ Cherry Belle
Lettuce Mix Radish Arugula Roquette Leaf Mulch
Scarlet Nantes Carrots/ Cherry Belle
Braizing Mix Radish Spring Onions (Failure) Leaf Mulch
Georgia Sweet Onions Red Ace Beets Red Ace Beets Leaf Mulch
Sugar Snap Peas Sugar Snap Peas Sugar Snap Peas Sugar Snap Peas
*All beds 50 feet on 5 foot centers
Tillage and bed preparation March,
Tillage 2004
Planting March, 2004
Harvest April-June, 2004
Fertrel 4-2-4 OMRI approved band
Fertility applied at 100#N/acre

64. 8
12
7
11
13
6
10
5
9
4
3
2
1

65. Date-Transplant Actual
Date-Seeding Actual
Date-Harvest Actual
Date-Transplant Est
Date-Seeding Est
Date-Harvest Est
Days to Harvest
Days SD to TD
Actual Beds
# of Beds
Variety
Field
Crop
De Cicco Broccoli 12 28 28 56 58 114 1 1
Batavia Broccoli 12 28 28 56 58 114 2 2
Gypsy Broccoli 12 28 28 56 58 114 6 6
Packman Broccoli 12 28 28 56 49 105 6 6
Famosa Cabbage 12 28 28 56 70 126 1 1
Jersey Wakefield Cabbage 12 28 28 56 63 119 2 2
Even' Star Champion Collards 2 28 28 56 60 116 2 4
Lacinato Kale 9 28 28 56 60 116 3 6
Siberian Kale 2 28 28 56 60 116 3 6
Red Lettuce 2 28 28 56 56 112 1.5 4
Green Lettuce 2 28 28 56 56 112 1.5 4
Kohlrabi Kohlrabi 9 35 28 63 50 113 1 2
Korridor Kohlrabi 7 35 28 63 50 113 1 2
Date-Harvest Actual
Windsor Fava Bean 4 42 75 117 4 8
Date-Harvest Est
# seeds per foot
# of Rows / Bed
Perfection Fennel 2 42 35 77 80 157 1 3
# of Seeds / Oz
Ounces of Seed
Feet per Ounce
Red Lettuce 2 42 28 70 56 126 0.5 1
Plants / Foot
Green Lettuce 2 42 28 70 56 126 0.5 1
Actual Beds
# of Plants
# of Seeds
Sugar Snap Pea 2 42 58 100 4 8
# of Beds
# of Flats
Flat Size
Rowfeet
Korridor Kohlrabi 7 49 28 77 50 127 1 2
Chioggia Beets 7 56 55 111 1.5 4
Red Ace Beets 7 56 50 106 3 9
Golden Beets 7 56 50 106 1.5 4
114 1 100 0.667 1 66.7 50 2 200 6000 0.034
Scarlet Nantes Carrot 7 56 65 121 2 6
114 2 200 0.667 1 133.4 50 4 400 6000 0.067
Yaya Carrot 7 56 56 112 2 6
114 6 600 0.667 1 400.2 50 10 1000 6000 0.167
Purple Haze Carrot 7 56 56 112 1 3
105 6 600 0.667 1 400.2 50 10 1000 6000 0.167
Napoli Carrot 7 56 58 114 2 6
126 1
Red 100 1
Lettuce 1 100
2 56 72 2
28 288
84 7000
56 140 0.042 0.5 1
119 2
Green 200 1
Lettuce 1 200
2 56 72 4
28 576
84 7000
56 140 0.083 0.5 1
116 2
Corno di Toro400 1
Pepper 2 400
6 56 72 7
70 1008
126 7000
75 201 0.144 2 4
116 3
Anaheim 600 1
Pepper 2 600
6 56 72 10
70 1440
126 7000
75 201 0.206 1 2
116 3
Poblano 600 1
Pepper 2 600
6 56 72 10
70 1440
126 7000
70 196 0.206 1 2
112 1.5
Pimiento 450 1.2
Pepper 3 540
6 56 128 5
70 1280
126 24000
70 196 0.054 1 2
112 1.5 450
California Wonder Green/Red 1.2
Pepper 3 540
6 56 128 5
70 1280
126 24000
70 196 0.054 6 12
113 1
Hot mix 200 1
Pepper 2 200
6 56 72 4
70 576
126 6500
100 226 0.089 1 2
113 1 200
California Wonder Orange 1
Pepper 2 200
6 56 72 4
70 576
126 6500
85 211 0.089 3 6

66. Rotation Questions?
• Measure and map your fields
• Divide into equal-sized ‘rotational
units’
• Group cash crops: family, seasonality
• Create rotational plan outline
• Fill in with cover crops
• Create detailed field plan

67. Resources
• National Center for Appropriate
Technology www.attra.ncat.org
• Available online at www.sare.org
– Crop Rotation on Organic Farms: A
Planning Manual
– Using Cover Crops Profitably
• Adams-Briscoe Seed Company
www.abseed.com

68. Planning the Planting of
Cover Crops and Cash
Crops
Daniel Parson
Parson Produce
404.452.4321
www.parsonproduce.com