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Even though cover crop acreage in the U.S. has doubled to nearly 10 million acres in the last several years, the industry itself is very young as applied to today’s cropping systems.
Farmers often find it challenging to sort out which species and varieties of covers work best in their type of farm operation and climate. Often they rely on crop variety trials to make informed decisions, but some farmers have complained the trials included varieties that are no longer commercially available.
Recently, the NRCS’ Plant Material Centers (PMCs) released the results of national trials aimed at better characterizing the performance and adaptation of commercially available cover crop varieties.
The PMCs conducted a 2-year evaluation of cool-season cover crops at more than 20 locations. Nearly 60 commercially available varieties of…