There are plenty of opinions about when to terminate cover crops prior to planting cash crops, ranging from weeks before to planting green.

As the snow begins to melt and we finally put the 2013-14 winter behind us, many growers and consultants alike are beginning to venture out to their winter wheat fields to assess winter injury.

For growers who may have planted cover crops last fall, it will be very important to apply an effective burndown to these species in the coming weeks.

From March 16th - April 15th, 2014, we asked No-Till Farmer readers: "When do you prefer to spray cover crops when planting no-tilled corn and soybeans?"

Normally we think about cover crops for fall planting, but there are also options to plant cover crops in March/April. If you have winter wheat or barley in the field, you can frost-seed medium red clover as soon as the snow melts and the soil thaws. The practice has proven viable for many of our growers, despite the disadvantage of not having good seed-to-soil contact.