treerat
Active Member
This is paragraph from the latest Allamakee County Soil and Water conservation newsletter, describing arial cover crop seeding performed last year:
The SWCD partnered with Hall Robert’s Son Inc., a seed company in Postville, IA, and Klinkenborg Aerial Spraying of Parkersburg, IA to seed cover crops into standing corn and soybeans with a plane in late August. Because growing cover crops need sufficient light to grow, the seeding was timed to coincide with soybean leaf drop and corn plants maturation. Four different mixes were offered to meet the producers’ different goals and objectives. The mixes used and the costs per acre were as follows:
2 bu winter rye/ac @ $27.90/ac for seed
2 bu oats and 5# tillage radish/ac @ $33.25/ac for seed
15 lbs ryegrass and 2# tillage radish/ac @ $21.00/ac for seed
45 lbs winter rye and 6 lbs red clover and 3 lbs tillage radish/ac @ $31.50/ac for seed
The cost for the aerial application was $15/ac with a 10 acre minimum.
They are considering offering the program this year and I was thinking of working out a deal with my renter to do at least 10 acres of the rye/clover/radish mix into this year's soybeans. At $46.50/acre it would be a large expense but possibly worth it for the soil and wildlife benefits. Anyone have any experience with this? If it did it in my own soybean plot, I would just broadcast it with an ATV. However, this is ideal to avoid damage to a cash crop.
The SWCD partnered with Hall Robert’s Son Inc., a seed company in Postville, IA, and Klinkenborg Aerial Spraying of Parkersburg, IA to seed cover crops into standing corn and soybeans with a plane in late August. Because growing cover crops need sufficient light to grow, the seeding was timed to coincide with soybean leaf drop and corn plants maturation. Four different mixes were offered to meet the producers’ different goals and objectives. The mixes used and the costs per acre were as follows:
2 bu winter rye/ac @ $27.90/ac for seed
2 bu oats and 5# tillage radish/ac @ $33.25/ac for seed
15 lbs ryegrass and 2# tillage radish/ac @ $21.00/ac for seed
45 lbs winter rye and 6 lbs red clover and 3 lbs tillage radish/ac @ $31.50/ac for seed
The cost for the aerial application was $15/ac with a 10 acre minimum.
They are considering offering the program this year and I was thinking of working out a deal with my renter to do at least 10 acres of the rye/clover/radish mix into this year's soybeans. At $46.50/acre it would be a large expense but possibly worth it for the soil and wildlife benefits. Anyone have any experience with this? If it did it in my own soybean plot, I would just broadcast it with an ATV. However, this is ideal to avoid damage to a cash crop.
