Controlling soil erosion with cover crops

Christina Curell, Michigan State University Extension - April 1, 2015

Cover crops can be used to impede soil erosion off of fields.

The reasons why farmers use cover crops are as varied as the number of species that can be used as a cover crop. Traditionally cover crops were used for erosion control. Recent water quality concerns has brought the discussion on cover crops and soil erosion back to the forefront.

Cover crops are a great tool that farmers can use to minimize soil movement off of field. Active roots in the soil hold the soil from water erosion while above ground growth shields soil movement from wind erosion. Covering the soil also protects the soil from rainfall splatter. When it rains, water hits the soil at a great impact causing soil to be displaced. The following chart rates cover crop species ability to decrease soil erosion. The rating encompasses both root and plant growth.

Excellent	Very Good	Good	Fair
Barley	Annual Ryegrass	Hairy Vetch	Buckwheat
Cereal Rye	Oat	Red Clover
Sorghum-Sudan	Wheat
Cowpea	Mustard
	Radish
	Rapeseed
	Berseem Clover
	Crimson Clover
	Field Pea
	Sweetclover
	White Clover

Chart information taken from Managing Cover Crops Profitably third edition, SARE Handbook Series 9.

For more information or to help decide what cover crop will be best for your farm contact Michigan State University Extension educators Christina Curell, curellc@anr.msu.edu or Paul Gross, grossp@anr.msu.edu. More information can also be found at the Midwest Cover Council website.

This article was published by Michigan State University Extension. For more information, visit https://extension.msu.edu. To have a digest of information delivered straight to your email inbox, visit https://extension.msu.edu/newsletters. To contact an expert in your area, visit https://extension.msu.edu/experts, or call 888-MSUE4MI (888-678-3464).