Cover Crop without a No Till Drill

Good Morning all!

Just bought 39 acres with plans for a food forest, education center and glamping.  Meeting with the town zoning board  next week and moving forward with my retirement project!  Looking at Yurts, grey water system, CSA and options to involve as meany people as possible.  I am stuck on it is right to invest in a no till seeder.

I have 9 acres on land that needs regeneration.  We eventually will use all of it for veggies and fruit trees but for now, I want to get a cover crop  in this year.  Right now it is in corn stubble and I have a little time to decide what implements to add to a 40hp tractor.  I decided to buy a flail mower to much anything I cut plus I have two acres of road front to keep respectable.

$9,000 is a lot of money to spend on a grain drill for cover crops.  I do not think I will use it after 3 or 4 years.  I want to get a cover crop in once the field is dry enough but can't decide on the best method.  I have sandy loam with very little organic matter.  I am just north of the Finger Lakes in NYS and the soil will need rock picking.  Most are small 2" rocks but lots of lunch box sized rocks!  I will need to go over all 9 acres before using a no till drill.

If I get a seed broadcaster and a 6ft. roller my guess is I will have to spend more of seed but most likely won't reach the price difference of the drill.  I got my order in early enough to have a grain drill arriving end of March but can get my deposit back since they can't keep them in stock.

I am looking for options and how to's that people have done.

1.  Do I just use a broad caster and drag a chain hoping to do it just before a rain (uneven seeding)
2.  Do I just a coulter cart with spikes after I broadcast.
3.  Broadcast and then roll
4.  Rock pick an acre a day and buy the no till seeder ( i know with seeding will be much better)

What have you done successfully would be a big help.

Thank you all in advance.....Jim

Hire a local to do it for you.


You don't need to own it, or do it all yourself.

Michael Cox wrote:Hire a local to do it for you.


You don't need to own it, or do it all yourself.

That was my first thought.....every one is too busy.  There is one to rent for $75.00 got three day delivered by the county but I need a 60hp tractor.  Tried to rent on but no go.

Hi Jim!
Welcome to permies :D

I don't have an answer for you, but I moved this to where people who do know will see it.

I have a question though, how do you rock pick? If it's a pull behind the tractor thing, it should have the soil all shredded up. If so, I'd broadcast and roll.

Is there a specific cover crop you have your heart set on?

If not, any chance chia would work? It can be broadcast without the need for a roller, and will grow anywhere, even on the side of a rock.

Hi Jim,

[Armchair philosopher warning: I have read about people doing this, have not done any of it myself (yet)]

Do you still have any snow cover? It's maybe a little late for frost seeding (I think that's usually done earlier, say mid-April), but I've read (Gene Logsdon, also Prairie Moon Nursery) broadcasting over the snowpack and letting the freeze/thaw cycles work the seed in works pretty well. You also take advantage of the spring moisture, and don't have to worry as much about rain/irrigation to get things to germinate. Joel Salatin recommends (for converting cropland to pastureland) getting a broadcast seeder and dragging an old tree along behind to scuff up the soil.

As far as the drill goes...that's a lot of money for a short term use. You didn't say what you're planning to grow for the cover crop, but if it's something perennial (say a grass/legume pasture mix), you likely only need to plant this year. Even with the money you'd recover selling the drill at the end, it seems broadcast would be much more economical.

We planted our sainfoin crop and grass seed with a box blade. First we put the tines down all the way, then broadcast seeded, then drove over it again. It worked.

Where are you located? Around here there is enough seed bank in the soil to green up a corn field rather quickly, even one that has been saturated with round up.  If you really feel the need to plant something you can add plenty of annual rye to the mix to act as a nurse crop.  It germinates quickly on top of the soil and will shade and retain moisture to assist other, harder to germinate, seeds.  Its pretty cheap, too.  It will however, get pretty thick if you broadcast it too heavy and could smother your other seedlings over time.  

Another option is to broad cast, then run a bush hog over the corn stubble to produce a mulch covering for your seed.

I have successfully overseeded 30 acre pasture with a lawn tractor and a bed spring as a drag.  I have also done it pulling a cattle panel with a motorcycle.

You use two to three times as much seed to broadcast and it doesn't work for all seed types, but it will work and is cheaper for small acreage.

R Scott wrote:I have successfully overseeded 30 acre pasture with a lawn tractor and a bed spring as a drag.  I have also done it pulling a cattle panel with a motorcycle.

You use two to three times as much seed to broadcast and it doesn't work for all seed types, but it will work and is cheaper for small acreage.

What creativity....I may try the bed spring  but not with my motorcycle! LOL

thanks,
Jim

      Motorcycles/ 4 wheelers have air cooled engines. I tried it on 4 wheeler with large piece of chain link fence.
Got the job done but engine was hot and stinking. Driving in low gear doesn't work due to slow speed and not
enough air flow to properly cool.  Didn't want to use the heavy tractor which would compacted soil to much for
my liking.  Maybe I'll use the dunebuggy next year...........

I am trying to make no-till seeding work on an acre plot and learn a little more each year.  And yes, seeding cover
crops is the best way to regenerate  and bring worn out dead soil back to life. Having live roots in ground year round
armors, protects and builds topsoil and increases available nutrients due to microbial activity. After cover-cropping
a few years I have healthy green crops of corn and veggies with no synthetic fertilizer input. I do broadcast lime every
few years but that is all. No fertilizer, no manure, just interseed cover crops at corn v5 stage and again in early fall
after harvest.  You'll also notice lots of deer and other wildlife visit to forage on your cover.

I can't wait but I figured it would be 3rd year before we really go into production with a CSA.  Will start next year with a few customers.