Cover Crop Selector - Sarah Noggle, OSU Extension, from the 2020 Conservation Tillage and Technology Conference, held March 3-4, 2020, Ada, OH, USA.

1. Utilizing Cover Crops
Sarah Noggle, Paulding County Extension
CTC 2020, March 4, 2020

2. Cover Cropping
for Pollinators
and
Beneficial
Insects
available from
www.SARE.org

3. www.sare.org

4. • Easy to carry
• Great source of scientific research-based
information
• Available for $5.50 each
• Online ordering at the Purdue Extension
Education Store
• http://edustore.purdue.edu/item.asp?Item_Nu
mber=ID-433
Cover Crops Field Guide – 2nd Edition

5. • Part of the Midwest Cover Crops Council
(OSU is a part of this)
• http://mccc.msu.edu/selector-tool/
• The Midwest Cover Crop Council (MCCC)
Cover Crop Decision Tools are web-based
systems to assist farmers in selecting cover
crops to include in field crop and vegetable
rotations.
Cover Crop Tool Selector

6. Step 1 – Choose Vegetables or Row Crops

7. Step 2 – Choose your State and County

8. • If choosing a cash crop – choose a plant date
and harvest date.
• These can be approximations.
• Crop choices include: Corn – grain, corn –
seed, corn – silage, soybeans, dry beans,
wheat, warm season vegetables, cool season
vegetables, sugar beets, grain sorghum/milo
Step 3 – Choose your cash crop or prevent planting

9. • Choices include: Very poorly drained, poorly
drained, moderately well drained, well
drained, excessively drained, muck –
saturated, muck – well drained
• Choose Tile: Yes or No
• Choose Flooding: No, Brief – up to 7 days,
Long – 7 + days
Step 4 – Choose the drainage information

10. • Optional Step – but up to 3 total goals can be
selected.
• Goal choices: Nitrogen Source, Nitrogen
Scavenger, Soil Builder, Erosion Fighter, Weed
Fighter, Good Grazing, Quick Growth, Lasting
Residue, Mechanical Harvest Forage Value,
Grain/Seed Harvest Value, Interseed with Cash
Crop
• Goals work by eliminating cover crops that do
not have the goal attributes
• Ratings occur by 2 – Good, 3 – Very Good, 4-
Excellent
Step 5 – Choose Goals

11. Example

12. Select information on individual species or mix

13. Includes a drop down menu of additional information

14. Information can be printed for your own comparison

15. • Sarah Noggle, OSU Extension Paulding
County, noggle.17@osu.edu
Contact Information