Recent environmental and ecological awareness has started a resurgence in cover crop use. Although cover crops have been used for centuries, today's modern farmer has grown up in a generation which has replaced the use of cover crops with widespread use of fertilizers and herbicides. Now as some farmers are trying to use cover crops, they lack the information and experience to be successful. University and private researchers are going back to the basics and are experimenting with beneficial plants to determine how they can best be used in modern farming practices to supplement or replace purchased inputs. Cover crops have an important role in successful sustainable farming systems.

Cover Crop Links

• Cover Crops / Conservation Practice - Minnesota Department of Agriculture, Conservation Funding Guide
• Cover Crops Research and Demonstration - Minnesota Department of Agriculture
• Aerial and Other Broadcast Methods of Seeding Wheat – Ohio State University
• Aerial Seeding of Wheat – University of Wisconsin Extension
• Aerial Seeding - Risks and Realities! – Ontario Ag, Food and Rural Affairs
• Cover Crop Fundamentals - Ohio State University
• Aerial seeding to protect the soil – Agri News September 6, 2005
• Aerial Seeding Winter Wheat - Ontario Ag, Food and Rural Affairs
• Aerially-Seeded Cover Crop Conservation Project – Maryland DNR
• Cover and Green Manure Crop Benefits to Soil Quality - NRCS, USDA
• Cover Crop Fundamentals - Ohio State University
• Cover Crop Information Sheets - Michigan State University
• Cover Cropping Resource Page - University of California
• Cover Crop Use in Crop Production Systems - University of Nebraska
• Cover Crops - Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, Canada
• Cover Crops - Penn State University
• Cover Crops Always a Good Idea – Michigan State University
• Cover Crops and Green Manure Crops: Benefits, Selection and Use (PDF: 51 KB / 4 pages) - Rutgers University
• Cover Crops and Living Mulches - North Carolina State University
• Green Manure Cover Crops for Minnesota - University of Minnesota
• Managing Cover Crops Profitably - Sustainable Agriculture Network
• Operating a Profitable Small Farm: Cover Crops (PDF: 613 KB / 8 pages) - University of Maryland
• Overview of Cover Crops and Green Manures - ATTRA
• Planting Methods, aerially seeded – University of Kentucky
• Winter Cover Crops -- Their Value and Management - Purdue University

MDA Contact

Meg Moynihan
Minnesota Farm Opportunities
651-201-6616
Ag Marketing & Development Division