INDIANAPOLIS – A record number of cover crops were planted in Indiana this year, which an official with the USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) attributed to several organizations working together to share information about the practice with farmers.

Overall, 1.5 million acres of overwintering living covers (cover crops and small grains) were planted, according to an Indiana Conservation Partnership survey. The survey doesn’t distinguish between cover crops and small grains. Hoosier farmers normally plant fewer than 200,000 acres of small grains per year, meaning most of the acreage was devoted to cover crops, NRCS said.

Since 2014, the state’s cover crops acreage has been about 1 million annually, said Shannon Zezula, Indiana State Resource Conservationist with NRCS.

“That’s a tremendous accomplishment to stay at that level (over several years),” he noted. “Our farmers are national leaders in this movement to manage farms better and improve soils and water quality. I’d hold up our farmers to any across the nation.”

Cover crops increase soil organic matter, reduce erosion, improve nutrient cycling and help with compaction remediation, Zezula said. “We measure success by the amount of cover crops, but we call it a system. The system also includes reduced tillage and changes in nutrient management.”

The Indiana Conservation Partnership includes NRCS, the Indiana State Department of Agriculture (ISDA), the state’s soil and water conservation districts (SWCDs) and Purdue University extension. “All of us have been working hand in hand with farmers,” he explained. “Farmers are learning on the ground what works and what doesn’t work. We’ve been able to take that information and put on seminars and field days.”

The Conservation Cropping Systems Initiative (CCSI) is a program of the conservation partnership. “We all work so well together in Indiana,” Zezula pointed out. “We’re all on the same page. We’re taking the message to farmers. We also need to be sure they have adequate technical assistance.

“Farmers who want to begin using cover crops need help getting started. We back up (our message) with quality help and input. We show them what these practices can do for their farms.”

Producers are business people and to make change is risky, Zezula said. “They may ask, ‘why would I make a change when I’m making a living, I’m successful?’ We tell them they can reduce input costs, spend less time and have less stress.”

Cereal rye is the most widely planted cover crop in Indiana, he said. It’s inexpensive, can be planted later than most cover crops and is relatively easy to terminate.

Farmers should understand that all of the impacts of cover crops might not be seen right away, Zezula said. “You’ve got to commit to it. You don’t have to commit the entire farm, but maybe a field or portion of a field. We ask that you stick with us for three years. We would be surprised if you don’t see a positive change.”

Mike Werling, a farmer in Adams County, has been using cover crops since the early 1990s. His father and grandfather had clover interseeded with wheat and oats. He later included his corn and soybean fields in cover crops. He also added such cover crops as Austrian winter peas and radishes.

Werling is a technical specialist/agronomist with the Allen County SWCD. Part of his job is to act as a mentor to farmers. “I talk about what I do on my farm,” he explained. “Some farmers try cover crops and quit because they thought they weren’t working. I have enough experience to tailor my presentation and I know enough about different types of cover crops. I tell them I’m still adjusting, I don’t have all the answers yet.”

Farmers who are reluctant to try cover crops will sometimes say the practice doesn’t work, Werling said. “We can prove that is wrong,” he stated. “They think they don’t have time for it or that it costs too much money. They see it as contrary to what they’ve been taught. There are programs available to help with the costs. Find somebody that will help you. It can be so specialized for your area, your operation, your crop. It takes patience and perseverance.”

Farmers in northeast Indiana looking to learn about cover crops, soil health and carbon credits can attend a Soil Health Field Day, Sept. 8 at Roemke Farms in Harlan. A fertilizer workshop is scheduled for the evening before at the shelter house in Harlan Park. For more information, call Allen County SWCD at 260-484-5848, ext. 3.

To see the cover crops survey, visit www.isda.in.gov and click on cover crop and tillage transect data. For more on cover crops, see www.ccsin.org.