Cover Crop Improves Soil Health

By: Ron Smith

“Erosion,” says Mike Hubbs, “is a symptom of poor soil health, the soil’s ability to function.”

Hubbs and Greg Brann, specialists with the Tennessee Association of Conservation Districts, discussed and demonstrated how cover crops and crop rotation improve water infiltration, reduce erosion and runoff, and improve or maintain soil health at the recent Milan No-Till Field Day.

The 30th annual field day, hosted by University of Tennessee Agricultural Research, featured 16 plot tours covering multiple aspects of no-till practices in row crop and forage systems.

Cover crops, Hubbs says, make up an important part of the equation and “prevent a drop in the soil biology cycle.” That cycle includes plants that absorb energy from the sun and convert it into sugars (carbon) that leach into the soil. “Organisms in the soil eat on this biology,” Hubbs says. “Green plants increase the amount of soil biology.”

See also: 30th Milan No-Till Field Day offered ample evidence of the value of conservation tillage
Healthy soils include organisms, such as earthworms, that crawl through the soil, ingesting nutrients and leaving fecal matter behind.