By ANN HINCH
Assistant Editor

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. — The lengths to which farmers will go for yield and conservation sometimes leads to taking agriculture off the ground and into the sky.

Jamie Scott, who operates J.A. Scott Farms, Inc. in Pierceton, Ind., with his parents, spoke last week at the annual National No-Tillage Confer-ence in Ind-ianapolis about the use of grasses as winter cover crop for fields. They provide extensive root systems to increase organic matter in the topsoil, and hold it together against erosion.

“We felt the annual ryegrass is what gave us the deep roots we were going for,” he said, explaining they plant the seed among corn and soybeans nearly ready to be harvested each fall (mid-September and early October, respectively), so that the grass has a chance to grow suitably before frost and snow set in.

To plant in bean stubble by drilling, Scott said the best method they found was to put in 7.5-inch rows at a rate of 15 pounds of seed per acre. An acquaintance who broadcasts seed in the same area plants 30-inch rows at a rate of 20 pounds per acre. Scott said he didn’t like the broadcast method because the seed is too light and fluffy to position as well as he prefers.

Planting among mature corn is more of a challenge because of its height. The Scotts have used both airplane and helicopter equipped with diffusers to spread the ryegrass seed, at a rate of 25 pounds per acre. For his money, Scott said he preferred helicopter. It’s a few dollars less expensive per acre (for his area, $11 per acre versus $15 per acre for plane service), but the real advantage is in hands-on management and delivery control.

A plane needs a runway, so the grower is paying for time and fuel from the closest airport. Scott said a plane’s delivery depends on its size and speed – the larger and faster, the better and wider a pattern it can deliver and make fewer passes, using less seed and leaving narrower gaps between swaths. Aerial regulations means plane size depends on pilot experience, which is another factor in optimum seed distribution.

Communication with an active pilot is limited to radio contact; a plane can’t land next to the field, nor do all planes allow for side-by-side ride-along for the farmer to be specific with visual instructions. A helicopter can take off and land near the field and make short, precise trips.

One disadvantage of the helicopter is the diffuser tanks are smaller, so the pilot must land frequently for refills. Scott said his family used nine people for about 1.5 weeks to accomplish this planting, and it took more than 70 refills of 900 bags of ryegrass seed.

“We feel this is something we’re going to continue to work with,” he said, adding that one challenge on any aerial distribution is coordinating schedules with a qualified pilot – they’re spraying fungicide or doing pest control on a regular basis.

Over the winter, Scott said the grass grows well in fallow fields under the cover of snow. If seeding later than he mentioned, he recommends an injection of manure to help with growth. With aerial planting, he cautioned producers to take care with neighboring fields, especially anyone planting winter wheat, since the grass should not be in the same soil as a crop for long, taking its nutrients.

His family has not had an entire field of winterkilled ryegrass yet, though freezes sometimes leave patches looking brown and dead. “If you see this,” he said, showing a photo of it, “you still need to take a sprayer into that field” to kill off the grass before spring planting.

Dan Towery of Ag Conservation Solutions LLC in Lafayette, Ind., added some tips to Scott’s presentation along the way. “If it looks like that April 1, you can go back April 8 and it may look (as green as) a golf course,” he agreed.

He pointed out that Roundup doesn’t translocate well in cold weather, so it’s best to wait for a warm front to spray. Scott added it’s also best to do parts of the field at a time and finish a few hours before dark so the ground will have time to warm and help the herbicide do its job. He prefers to use 15-20 gallons per acre of citric acid in a low volume of water, not atrazene.

Scott reminded farmers to scout for “escape” patches of regrowing ryegrass before and after spring planting. He said one should begin one fall with a small area of ryegrass cover, to test, and go from there.

“Be early,” he said of planting grass, as well as killing it. “Plan ahead. Talk to someone who’s done it successfully in your area, if you can.”