Cover Crops and No-Tillage to Improve Soil Health in Indiana.

The use of cover crops and no-tillage is becoming more popular in Indiana to improve soils and cropping systems. A three-year project was begun on 17 sites in Indiana to evaluate the effects of cover crops and no-tillage on overall soil health. Three of the sites are Purdue University research farms, two sites are non-Purdue demonstration farms, and 12 sites are with farmer cooperators. This project is a collaboration of Indiana Conservation Partnership (ICP) staff, farmers, private and industry consultants, and researchers and is in its second year.  Farmer mentors participate in on-farm trials and outreach to other farmers through regional workshops. Treatments at the Purdue research sites include three or four blocks of no-till corn (Zea mays L.) and soybean (Glycine max (L.) Merr.) plots rotating each year. The corn plots are divided into three cover crop treatments:  a no cover crop control, a mixture of oats (Avena sativa L.) and oilseed radish (Raphanus sativus L.), and a mixture of oats, oilseed radish, crimson clover (Trifolium incarnatum L.), and cereal rye (Secale cereal L.). The soybean plots are also divided into three treatments:  a no cover crop control, cereal rye, and a mixture of oats, oilseed radish, and cereal rye. On the farmer sites, there are usually three blocks of a control and a new treatment. The control treatment has no cover crop and is either reduced till or no-till.  The new treatment is no-till with cover crops. The soil characteristics being tested are soil nitrate and ammonium, moisture content, temperature, penetration resistance, aggregation, bulk density, and several commercially available soil biological and soil health tests. Other tests include cover crop biomass, SPAD units on corn tissues, corn stalk nitrate, and corn and soybean yield. Data on soil aggregation, penetration resistance, bulk density, and water retention will be presented.