Top Cover Crops

Top Cover Crops By U.S. Region

Posted by on October 26, 2017

Once the fall crops have been harvested, plant cover crops to replenish the soil for the upcoming spring crops. Depending on the area you are in, cover crops may be legumes or grasses that are fast growing. These crops improve the soil by returning nutrients to it.

A cover crop also blocks weeds, helps with soil compaction and prevents topsoil loss and soil erosion in addition to restoring fertility. Here are the top cover crops by region in the U.S.

Northeast

Soil Builder

  • Annual Ryegrass
  • Sweet clover
  • Sorghum-sudangrass hybrid
  • Rye

Erosion Fighter

  • Rye
  • Subterranean clover
  • Oats

Subsoil Loosener

  • Sorghum-sudangrass hybrid
  • Forage radish
  • Sweet clover

Weed Fighter

  • Sorghum-sudangrass hybrid
  • Annual Ryegrass
  • Rye
  • Buckwheat

Pest Fighter

  • Rye, rapeseed
  • Sorghum-sudangrass hybrid

Southeast

Soil Builder

In uplands and lowlands:

  • Ryegrass,
  • Rye, and
  • Sorghum-sudangrass hybrid.

Use sweet clover in uplands and subterranean clover in lowlands.

Erosion Fighter

In uplands and lowlands, use:

  • Subterranean clover,
  • Cowpeas,
  • Rye, and
  • Ryegrass.

In the southeast lowlands, Sorghum-sudangrass hybrid is also an erosion fighter.

Subsoil Loosener

Sorghum-sudangrass hybrid. And, in the southeast uplands, sweet clover is a good cover crop to loosen subsoil.

Weed Fighter

For both areas, use Ryegrass and rye as weed fighters. For southeast uplands, you could also use buckwheat and subterranean clover. In the southeast lowlands, you could use berseem clover, wheat, cowpeas and oats.

Pest Fighter

  • Rye
  • Sorghum-sudangrass hybrid

Midwest

Soil Builder

  • Rye
  • Sorghum-sudangrass hybrid
  • Barley
  • Sweet clover

Erosion Fighter

  • White clover
  • Rye
  • Ryegrass
  • Barley

Subsoil Loosener

  • Sweet clover
  • Sorghum-sudangrass hybrid
  • Forage radish

Weed Fighter

  • Rye
  • Ryegrass
  • Wheat
  • Buckwheat
  • Oats

Pest Fighter

  • Rye
  • Sorghum-sudangrass hybrid

Southwest

Soil Builder

  • Subterranean clover
  • Barley
  • Medic (hop clover)

Erosion Fighter

  • Barley
  • Sorghum-sudangrass hybrid

Subsoil Loosener

Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education does not list cover crops as subsoil looseners for the Southwest.

Weed Fighter

  • Medic (hop clover)
  • Barley

Pest Fighter

Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education does not list cover crops as pest fighters for the Southwest.

West

The west is divided into Inland Northwest (1), Northwest Maritime (2), Coastal California (3) and California Central Valley (4).

Soil Builder

  • Rye (1) (2) (3)
  • Barley (1)
  • Medic (hop clover) (1) (4)
  • Sweet clover (1)
  • Ryegrass (2) (3)
  • Sorghum-sudangrass hybrid (2) (3)
  • LANA woolly pod vetch (2) (3)
  • Subterranean clover (4)

Erosion Fighter

  • Rye (1) (2) (3)
  • Barley (1) (3) (4)
  • White clover (1) (2) (3)
  • Ryegrass (1) (2) (3)
  • Cowpeas (2)
  • Sorghum-sudangrass hybrid (4)

Subsoil Loosener

Sorghum-sudangrass hybrid and sweet clover are good subsoil looseners for all four regions.

Weed Fighter

  • Rye (1) (3) (4)
  • Wheat (1)
  • Barley (1)
  • Ryegrass (2) (3) (4)
  • LANA woolly pod vetch (2) (4)
  • Oats (2)
  • White clover (2) (3) (4)
  • Berseem clover (3)

Pest Fighter

  • Rye (1) (2) (3) (4)
  • Mustards (1)
  • Sorghum-sudangrass hybrid (1) (2) (3) (4)
  • Crimson clover (2) (3) (4)

Plant cover crops as soon as you get the last late-summer or early fall crops harvested in the north. They may be planted at any time in the south.

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Sources:
http://www.sare.org/Learning-Center/Books/Managing-Cover-Crops-Profitably-3rd-Edition/Text-Version/Charts
https://www.almanac.com/content/cover-crops-us