The Key to Successful Cover Cropping: Agricultural Biologicals
How biologicals team up with cover cropping farmers to improve soil structure, fertility, and on-farm carbon sequestration
A practice that continues to gain popularity in the world of regenerative agriculture is cover cropping. Cover crops are crops that are planted to cover the soil—either on fields after harvest or between crop rows—primarily to support the success of production crops and improve soil fertility.
Cover crops can be a great tool to support regenerative ag efforts; however, implementing cover crops can sometimes be costly due to the new seed or equipment required.
If you plan to cover crop, how can you protect that investment and make it more successful?
The use of agricultural biologicals can support your cover cropping decision by enhancing the benefits they bring and strengthening overall plant vigor and fertility in your cropping system.
The use of agricultural biologicals can support your cover cropping decision by enhancing the benefits they bring and strengthening overall plant vigor and fertility in your cropping system.
This article covers:
- An Overview of Cover Cropping
- How Does Cover Cropping Improve Soil Structure?
- How Does Cover Cropping Boost Soil Fertility?
- How Does Cover Cropping Increase On-Farm Carbon Sequestration?
- How Do Biologicals Enhance the Benefits of Cover Crops?
- What Biological Products are Available for Cover Cropping Farmers?
- Can New and Long-Time Cover Cropping Farmers Enroll in Carbon Farming Programs?
An Overview of Cover Cropping
There are three main classifications of cover crops:
- Legume broadleaves – that are nitrogen-fixing, such as soybeans and alfalfa
- Non-legume broadleaves – that are not nitrogen-fixing and act as more of a catch crop, such as brassicas
- Grasses – with fibrous roots that can hold soil together, such as corn and ryegrass
Each of the types of cover crops boast their own distinct benefits, and growers can decide which to plant depending on their agronomic goals.
READ MORE: Nitrogen-Fixing Microbial Inoculants
1. How Does Cover Cropping Improve Soil Structure?
Soil is the foundation of most agricultural systems. Soil structure describes the way soil particles are assembled, allowing for water to infiltrate and drain, air to move throughout, and the storage and supply of vital plant nutrients. Soil structure can be easily damaged from practices that compact the soil, restricting plant root development and the ability to access water and nutrients. As the foundation in which plants grow, good soil structure is critical to a productive agricultural system.
Cover cropping helps to maintain good soil structure by holding soil in place with their quick-to-establish roots systems, increasing water filtration and reducing compaction, and preventing erosion caused by wind and rain. By reducing soil erosion, cover cropping also preserves the nutrients present in that soil—contributing to higher overall soil fertility.
How do Biologicals Support Cover Crops in Improving Soil Structure?
When formulated with the right strains of microbes, biological products will complement and enhance the benefits that cover crops bring.
Biologicals do their part in improving soil structure by:
- Enhancing plant root growth
- Increasing soil water filtration
- Increasing soil water retention
Cover crops and biologicals work together to improve soil quality when it comes to both structure and the management of vital nutrients.
Cover crops and biologicals work together to improve soil quality when it comes to both structure and the management of vital nutrients.
2. How Does Cover Cropping Boost Soil Fertility?
Cover cropping adds biomass to the soil, feeding beneficial soil microbes and providing more pathways for nutrient management in the soil ecosystem. As they decompose, cover crops increase soil organic matter and serve as a reservoir of water and vital nutrients.
The carbon-to-nitrogen (C:N) soil ratio is the balance of the mass of carbon to the mass of nitrogen in the soil. This ratio affects soil functions, including crop nutrient cycling and the rate at which soil microbes will decompose crop residue. Cover crops affect the C:N soil ratio by either increasing or reducing the amount of nitrogen in the soil, depending on cover crop type and growth stage.
When choosing which cover crops to plant, it’s important to factor in the soil nitrogen needs:
- Grasses and broadleaves are excellent nitrogen scavengers, removing excess nitrogen in the soil left over from previous crops and preventing it from leaching into groundwater.
- Leguminous cover crops are especially used to fix atmospheric nitrogen and add organic matter to the soil.
How Do Biologicals Support Cover Crops in Boosting Soil Fertility?
Biologicals support soil fertility by increasing nutrient cycling for key nutrients, including the macronutrient trio N-P-K (nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium).
Locus AG has biologicals that are proven to increase cover crop biomass—contributing to better nutrient management and overall soil fertility.
Biologicals support soil fertility by increasing nutrient cycling for key nutrients, including the macronutrient trio N-P-K (nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium).
3. How Does Cover Cropping Increase On-Farm Carbon Sequestration?
Carbon sequestration is the process of capturing, securing, and storing atmospheric CO2 in plants, soils, geologic formations, and the world’s oceans.
Plants sequester carbon through the process of photosynthesis, storing it as soil organic carbon (SOC) in their root tissues. Increasing on-farm SOC provides benefits for both the greater environment and a grower’s ROI, as it enhances microbial activity, nutrient cycling, and other key soil processes that improve soil fertility and productivity.
As cover crops are not typically harvested for consumption, the carbon they sequester remains in the soil rather than being released back into the atmosphere.
The amount of carbon sequestered by cover crops can differ with soil type, management, climate, and other variables. Legume and legume cover crop mixtures have shown significant SOC increases compared to other types of cover crops.
READ MORE: Carbon Farming & Your Bottom Line – Why Carbon Matters for Your Agribusiness
How Do Biologicals Support Cover Crops in Boosting On-Farm Carbon Sequestration?
Microbes play a vital role to maximizing the amount of carbon that gets stored in soil. A recently published study by Nature found that:
- Microbes are the most important factor in determining soil carbon storage
- Enabling microbial growth with the use of biologicals leads to permanent carbon capture
READ MORE: BIOLOGICALS ARE VITAL TO SOIL CARBON CAPTURE AND STORAGE
What Biological Products are Available for Cover Cropping Farmers?
Locus AG offers a premium cover crop biological product – Rhizolizer® Prime for Cover Crops – that boasts a combination of beneficial biological strains that maximize agronomic impact. This product combines novel strains of:
- Rhizobium
- Trichoderma
- Bacillus
Farmers should be aware that not all strains are created equal. Locus AG products contain superior microbial strains that are backed by extensive, third-party, randomized and replicated trials to boost yields and bring superior agronomic benefits.
Rhizolizer® Duo Prime for Cover Crops is available in a dry, hopper box applied formulation that can be easily implemented on the farm with no added equipment necessary. Locus AG biologicals are produced in the USA, available for immediate shipment, and are supplied through many major agricultural distributors and retailers.
READ MORE: Locus AG Rhizolizer® Prime for Cover Crops
Can New and Long-Time Cover Cropping Farmers Enroll in Carbon Farming Programs?
The implementation of cover crops is a widely accepted qualifying practice change for carbon farming programs. However, if a farmer has been using cover crops for many years, they are often times excluded from carbon farming programs due to the need for a more recent additionality, or qualifying practice change.
READ MORE: What is Additionality?
The use of Locus AG’s Rhizolizer® Prime for Cover Crops is an accepted qualifying practice change for new and long-time cover croppers that can allow farmers to enter into the carbon market for their cover crop practices.
This is part of Locus AG’s CarbonNOW carbon farming program. The program is based around the use of Locus AG biologicals as an approved additionality.
READ MORE: LOCUS AG’S CARBONNOW CARBON FARMING PROGRAM
The use of Locus AG’s Rhizolizer® Prime for Cover Crops is an accepted qualifying practice change for new and long-time cover croppers that can allow farmers to enter into the carbon market for their cover crop practices.
SUMMARY
Biologicals can support a farmer’s decision to cover crop in three big ways:
- By protecting a farmer’s investment in cover crops through increasing their best chance at success
- By maximizing the most important agronomic benefits that biologicals bring
- By generating new revenue streams, and allowing farmers to enter into a carbon farming program
Locus AG biologicals are not just nice-to-haves; they are Simply Vital to farming success. Leave us a message below to get started.
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