Cover cropping may be a modern buzz term, but it’s a concept I first witnessed back in the late 1940s. I’m the fifth generation of my family to farm both sides of the Mason-Dixon line between Pennsylvania and Maryland, and was fortunate enough to watch both my father and grandfather work the land.

Cover crops are driving the roots of Bruce Bartlett’s corn a little deeper into the southwest Missouri soil and delivering bonus fertility to boot.

Rolling and crimping tall cover crops can help no-tillers and strip-tillers plant into heavy residue, preserve moisture and, in some cases, reduce herbicide use.

As more and more no-tillers embrace cover crops, the production of the seed itself has become a rapidly growing industry in which marketing can sometimes outpace performance.