In late 2014, Indiana conservation agencies conducted a
cover crop and tillage transect. This
was the first time the survey was conducted statewide during this timeframe.
Data collected will help track trends in conservation tillage, energy
consumption, and cover crop information on the county, watershed, and statewide
level. Cover crops were a key focus of
the data collection. Due to the nature
of winter kill, decomposition, early spring planting, tillage, etc., it is
easier to accurately capture this information in the late fall or early winter
versus the spring.
Picture: Ed Roll grabs
a handful of cereal rye that was drilled in as a cover crop. This is the fourteenth time Ed has helped
conduct the tillage transect survey in Scott County.
The tillage transect follows a set, pre-determined route in
each county. Local personnel drive this
route and note information about each field marked in the survey. Scott County’s 2014 team included Kevin Baird
(ISDA Resource Specialist), Kari Harrison (Scott County Soil and Water
Conservation District (SWCD) District Coordinator), Jennifer Kipper (Natural
Resources Conservation Service District Conservationist), and Ed Roll (Earth
Team Volunteer).
Picture: the Scott
County survey team pauses to look at a field planted in cover crops. It felt like walking on a sponge, which is
common in no-till fields not hardened by compaction.
Dan Smith, a board member of the SWCD, has been planting
cover crops for three years. “Cover
crops improve the soil and erosion.
Cereal rye has a root system like you wouldn’t believe,” he says. “My dad used to plant red clover, and this
was 50 – 60 years ago. He knew what he
was doing. When you see positive
results, you pay attention. I’ve been
no-tilling since 1992. It’s part of a
management thing- they go hand in hand.” Some of Dan’s fields are captured in
the tillage transect.
Picture: a close up
view of cereal rye planted after soybeans.
Cereal rye can be seeded later in
fall than other cover crops and still provide significant reduction of nitrate
leaching and exceptional weed suppression.
In early summer 2015, teams statewide will visit these same
points again and collect data, including a team in Scott County. The transect surveys have been collected
since 1990.
Find more statewide information about the cover crop and
tillage transect at: http://www.in.gov/isda/2383.htm
