TRENTON, Ohio – Brady Smith, Butler County Soil and Water Conservation District rural specialist, recently welcomed guests to the fourth annual Cover Crop Field Day, held this year at the Governor Cox Farm.

Dr. Alyssa Essman, Ohio State University weed science Extension state specialist, looked at how herbicides put down in the spring can carry over to fall. The interest in cover crops is growing as more weeds are developing resistance to herbicides, she said. Cereal rye is the most common cover crop used in Ohio.

Farmers need to be creative in dealing with herbicide resistance, she said. The best tool is the Weed Control Guide for Ohio/Indiana/Illinois/Missouri.

Smith discussed current manufactured cover crop crimpers that are available. Crimpers were first developed in South Africa and were brought to the United States in the early 2000s. They are designed to terminate cover crops, control early-season weeds, and conserve moisture. 

After lunch the group went outside and Chris Proeschel showed them a homemade cover crop roller crimper that he and his son, Alex, designed and built.

“Several companies manufacture them but we decided to build this one on our own,” Proeschel said. “We got a large piece of pipe from a local well driller, then we bought material to make the frame out of to mount it.”

The crimper mounts on a three-point hitch which they have on one of the tractors. The crimper goes on the front and they pull the planter behind it making it a one-pass process. The paddles on it are flat steel plates.

“The ones that you buy from a manufacturer, those paddles are laid at an angle so they run smoother, they don’t bounce,” Proeschel said. “We didn’t have that ability because you would have to follow the curve of the pipe so we used flat pieces. But we staggered them and overlapped them.”

So multiple paddles, spaced about an inch apart, are hitting the ground as the drum rotates, he explained. The crimper is 15.5 feet wide.

“It runs pretty smooth that way and we made it a little bit wider to make sure that we didn’t miss things on passes,” Proeschel said. “We made it to fill up with water if we needed to, so it is water tight, and to make it heavier in case we needed that for crimping heavy soil rot.”

They ran it with water inside the first year but found it wasn’t necessary and have not used it since. They keep 10 to 15 gallons of old motor oil in the drum to add weight and keep it from rusting.

Earlier, several farmers said they had problems with weeds getting wrapped around the crimper but Proeschel said they have not had that problem.

“When we use ours, we roll it down,” he said. “The purpose of the paddles is to break the stems; if you cut the stem the plant will grow back but if you break it without actually cutting it, it will kill the plant. The purpose of the paddle is to break those stems and kill the plant and then you don’t have to spray. We roll and plant it and we don’t have to come back to spray until a post-emergent spray so we save one sprayer pass.”