Making Connections: Cover Crops, Soil Health, People
2021 MCCC Virtual Conference and Annual Meeting
February 23-25 hosted by University of Guelph
Conference recordings posted here!
State/Province Reports
Past meeting information
- 2020- Kansas City, MO
- 2019- Springfield, IL
- 2018- Fargo, ND
- 2017- Grand Rapids, MI
- 2016- Madison, WI
- 2015- West Des Moines, IA
- 2014- Warsaw, IN
- 2013- London, ON
- 2012- West Lafayette, IN
- 2011- Ada, OH
- 2010- Ames, IA
- 2009- Windsor, ON
- 2008- Indianapolis, IN
- 2007- Minneapolis, MN
- 2006- Augusta, MI
2020
February 11-12 in Kansas City, MO
State/Province Reports
- Indiana
- Illinois
- Iowa
- Kansas
- Michigan
- Minnesota
- Missouri
- Nebraska
- North Dakota
- Ohio
- Ontario
- South Dakota
- Wisconsin
Cover Crops and Soil Health: The Practical Way Forward
Dates:February 20-21, 2019
Location: Springfield, IL
State Reports
- Indiana
- Illinois
- Iowa
- Kansas
- Michigan
- Minnesota
- Missouri
- Nebraska
- North Dakota
- Ohio
- Ontario
- South Dakota
- Wisconsin
Partner Reports
- National Wildlife Federation
- Conservation Technology Information Center
- Southern Cover Crops Council
February 21, 2019 – “Cover Crops and Soil Health: The Practical Way Forward”
Building your Soil Health System on Sound Principals – Barry Fisher, NRCS Soil Health Specialist
Nutrient Reduction Regulations – Sarah Noggle, Agriculture and Natural Resources Educator, Ohio State University Extension
The Effect of N Management and Cover Crops on Tile Nitrate Loads in Central Illinois – Lowell Gentry, Principal Research Specialist in Agriculture, University of Illinois
Keynote: Practical Implementation of Cover Crops – Lee Briese, 2017 International Crop Adviser (CCA) of the Year
Soil Health – What’s Old, What’s New, and How Does it Relate to Cover Cropping? – Andrew Margenot, Assistant Professor of Soil Science, University of Illinois
Effects of Cover Crops on Weed Control in Soybean – Brent Sunderlage, Weed Science Researcher, Southern Illinois University
Farmer and Crop Adviser Panel Discussion (Youtube Video) – Moderator: Joel Gruver, Associate Professor of Soil Science and Sustainable Ag, Western Illinois University; Lee Briese, Centrol Crop Consulting; Terry Wyciskalla, Wyciskalla Consulting; Kris Reynolds, American Farmland Trust; Joe Rothermel, Farmer in Broadlands, IL; Trenton Carley, Full Throttle Ag Service
2018
Dates: March 13-14, 2018
Location: Fargo, ND
State Reports
- Indiana
- Illinois
- Iowa
- Kansas
- Michigan
- Minnesota
- Missouri
- Nebraska
- North Dakota
- Ohio
- Ontario
- South Dakota
- Wisconsin
Partner Reports
2017
Dates: March 14-15, 2017
Location: Grand Rapids, MI
Sponsors:
Platinum: Monsanto and Greenstone Farm Credit Services
Gold: Midwestern BioAg, Albert Lea Seed, North Central Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE), and USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service
Friend: Corn Marketing Program of Michigan and Michigan Soybean Promotion Committee
Business Meeting and Conference Program
Agenda
Tuesday – March 14, 2017- Business Meeting
State Reports
- Ohio
- South Dakota
- Wisconsin
- Kansas
- Nebraska
- Illinois
- Michigan
- North Dakota
- Minnesota
- Iowa
- Ontario
- Indiana
- Missouri
National Wildlife Federation – Partner Report
Wednesday – March 15, 2017- “Making Cover Crops Work- Experiences from the field”
Keynote- Cover Crop Termination: Considerations when selecting herbicides and the potential for resistance (Dale Shaner, Retired USDA-ARS – University of Colorado)
Concurrent Sessions
Track 1- Field Crops
- Challenges and successes of no-till and cover crops in Southern Illinois– Nathan Johanning /Adam Dahmer (IL)
- Use of cover crops for weed suppression in field crops in Kansas– Anita Dille/Josh Lloyd (KS)
- Interactions between cover crops and nematodes in diverse MI field crops systems– George Bird/Mark Sylvester/Fred Warner (MI)
- Partnerships and Information Infrastructure: How Indiana moved from 184,000 acres of cover crops to 1.1 million acres in 5 years– Lisa Holscher/Jamie Scott (IN)
- Long-term experiment looking at diversity and cover crops in corn-soybean-wheat rotations (15-20 years)– Bill Deen (ON)
Track 2- Vegetable Crops
- I can’t believe it’s not butternut on plastic! Year two rye cover and fertility observations– Ben Phillips/Mike Yancho Jr. (MI)
- Cover crops and conservation tillage systems in organic broccoli, peppers and squash– Ajay Nair/Wade Dooley (IA)
- Long-term cover cropping in conventional vegetable systems. Can you improve soil health while still tilling?-Laura Van Eerd (ON)
- Our experiences with cover crops and no-till vegetable production in southern Illinois– Nathan Johanning (IL)
- Mustard family cover crops for crop establishment and pest management in vegetables– Dan Brainard/Ben Werling /Ralph Ooman (MI)
Track 3- Forage/Grazing
- Lessons from over 10 years of grazing cover crops in beef production– Mike Buis (ON)
- Cover crops & forage-finished beef: A 3-year study of forage quality and cattle performance– Jason Rowntree/Jon Nelson (MI)
- Winter rye cover crop and forage comparison in Wisconsin – five year results: economics and farmer perspectives– Kevin Shelley (WI) / Brandon Gibson (MI)
- Grazing cover crops and small ruminants– Richard Ehrhardt (MI)
- Grazing multi specie cover crops with beef cattle – the Michigan experience– Jerry Lindquist/Chris Harrington (MI)
Afternoon Joint Session: Interseeding Cover Crops into Field Crops Systems: Geography makes a Difference
- Karen Renner (MSU), Aaron Brooker (MSU), and Marc Hasenick
- Marisol Berti (NDSU) and Douglas Toussaint
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2016
Dates: February 23-24, 2016
Location: Madison, WI
State/Province Reports
MCCC Partner Report
Presentations from “The Science of Cover Crops”
- What Issues Will Future Agriculture Face?– Jerry Hatfield, USDA National Laboratory for Agriculture and the Environment
- Reducing Soil Erosion and Improving Soil Health– Eileen Kladivko, Purdue University
- Cover Crops as a Nutrient Source– Laura van Eerd, University of Guelph
- Cover Crops and Water Quality– Tom Kaspar, USDA‐ARS National Laboratory for Agriculture and the Environmen
- Cover Crops, Forages, and Grazing– Kim Cassida, Michigan State University
- The Meta‐Economics of Cover Crops– Paul Mitchell, University of Wisconsin‐Madison
- New Approaches in Cover Crop Management- Anne Verhallen, Ontario Ministry of Agriculture
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2015
Dates: February 17-18, 2015
Location: West Des Moines, IA
State/Province Reports
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2014
Dates: April 8-9, 2014
Location: Warsaw, IN
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2013
Dates: February 28-March 1, 2013
Location: London, ON
State/Province Reports
NWF update: Roadmap to increased cover crop adoption
Presentation from the Making Sen$e with Cover Crops Workshop
- Why cover crop? Soil health impact (Kladivko)
- Putting a value on cover crops: The economics and sharp pencil calculations
- From planting to killing
- Why and how I use cover crops (Durivage, Briere, and Kratz)
- The view from the field: Successes and cautions (Durivage, Briere, Van Arkel, Van Segbrook, Buis)
- Cover crop research and your bottom line: Top 3 things that affect a growers bottom line from research
- Field crops
- Livestock
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2012
Dates: February 28-29, 2012
Location: West Lafayette, IN
2012 MCCC Proceedings (Click on titles in the Table of Contents to view)
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2011
Dates: February 23-24, 2011
Location: Ada, OH
2011 MCCC Proceedings (Click on titles in the Table of Contents to view)
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2010
Dates: March 2-4, 2010
Location: Ames, IA
Presentation from the general session
- Cover crops: Widespread adoption of niche conservation practice (Jeremy Singer)
- Lessons learned from the cover crop innovators student interviews (Joel Gruver, remote presentation)
- Farmer panel: How I have been using cover crops and why
- Cover crop management: Soil quality made easy…err! (Barry Fisher)
- USDA Programs to promote cover crops (Barb Stewart)
- Rye research at the University of Minnesota (Deborah Allan)
- Integrating manure and coer crops with manure slurry seeding (Tim Harrigan)
- What’s the buzz about radishes and brassicas?
- Fits, misfits, and mightfites: On-farm cover crop demonstrations in Michigan (Dan Hudson)
- MCCC cover crop decision tool: Guidance for cover crop selection (Dean Baas)
Posters
- Using cover crops to facilitate the transition to continuous no-till (Scanlon, Williams, Kladivko, Towery, Reeder, Baas, Mutch)
- Cover crop research at North Dakota State University (Lawley, Overstreet, Zwinger, Schatz)
- Cover crop biomass and subsequent corn yield for 13 winter rye, wheat, and triticale cover crop cultivars (Kaspar)
- Which cover crop type you grow could impact cucumber yield (Cartier, Parkin, and VanEerd)
- Ohio cover crop team outreach (Sundermeier, Hoorman, Islam, Reeder, Gastier)
- Red clover nitrogen contribution for corn (Sundermeier)
- Small footprint corn production in kura clover living mulch (Bard and Albrecht)
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2009
Dates: February 10-11, 2009
Location: Windsor, ON
Presentation from the general session
- Cover crops and water quality (Baas, Michigan State Univ.)
- Cover crops and fertility
- The value of cover crops for erosion control (Kaspar, Iowa State Univ.)
- Weed management and cover crops (Mutch and Taylor, Michigan State Univ.)
- Soybean cyst nematode and cover crops (Welacky, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada)
Posters
- Cover crops before sweet corn: Does this mean less nitrogen fertilizer? (O’Reily and VanEerd, Univ. of Guelph-Ridgetown)
- Cover crops before sweet corn: Does this mean fewer weeds? (O’Reily and VanEerd, Univ. of Guelph-Ridgetown)
- Kura clover living mulch replaced nitrogen fertilizer for corn silage and grain production (Berkevich and Albrecht, Univ. of Wisconsin-Madison)
- Using rye winter cover rops to protect the soil and the environment (Kaspar, USDA National Soil Tilth Laboratory)
- Management of soybean cyst nematode with winter wheat/legume rotations (Welacky et al., Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada)
- Flat profit functions associated with variable nitrogen rates- Implications for producers, researchers and policy-makers (Deen et al., Univ. of Guelph)
- Cover crop impact on manure nitrogen sequestration and availability to corn in Ontario (Janovicek et al., Univ. of Guelph)
- Integrated weed management: Fine tunign the system (Taylor, Renner, and Sprague, Michigan State Univ.)
- A regional matrix tool for cover crop selection and guidance for farmers in the Midwest (Baas, Michigan State Univ.)
- Cover crop education in Ohio (Sundermeier, Ohio State University)
- Iowa cover crop projects (Kaspar, USDA-ARS National Soil Tilth Laboratory)
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2008
Dates: March 11-12, 2008
Location: Indianapolis, IN
2008 MCCC Meeting Final Report
State/Province Reports
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2007
Dates: April 10-11, 2007
Location: Minneapolis, MN
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2006
Dates: August 2-3, 2006
Location: Augusta, MI