Demonstrating Cover Crop Mixtures on Iowa Farmland:
Management, Soil Health, and Water Quality Benefits

Helmers, Matthew; Juchems, Liz; Comito, Jacqueline; Licht, Mark

Demonstrating Cover Crop Mixtures on Iowa Farmland: Management, Soil Health, and Water Quality Benefits

File

DemonstratingCoverCrop.pdf (259.74 KB)

Date

2018-01-01

Authors

Helmers, Matthew

Juchems, Liz

Comito, Jacqueline

Helmers, Matthew

Licht, Mark

Altmetrics

Authors

Person

Helmers, Matthew

Person

Licht, Mark

Associate Professor

Organizational Units

Organizational Unit

Extension and Experiment Station Publications

It can be very challenging to locate information about individual ISU Extension publications via the library website. Quick Search will list the name of the series, but it will not list individual publications within each series. The Parks Library Reference Collection has a List of Current Series, Serial Publications (Series Publications of Agricultural Experiment Station and Cooperative Extension Service), published as of March 2004. It lists each publication from 1888-2004 (by title and publication number - and in some cases it will show an author name).

Organizational Unit

Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering

Since 1905, the Department of Agricultural Engineering, now the Department of Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering (ABE), has been a leader in providing engineering solutions to agricultural problems in the United States and the world. The department’s original mission was to mechanize agriculture. That mission has evolved to encompass a global view of the entire food production system–the wise management of natural resources in the production, processing, storage, handling, and use of food fiber and other biological products.

History
In 1905 Agricultural Engineering was recognized as a subdivision of the Department of Agronomy, and in 1907 it was recognized as a unique department. It was renamed the Department of Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering in 1990. The department merged with the Department of Industrial Education and Technology in 2004.

Dates of Existence
1905–present

Historical Names

Department of Agricultural Engineering (1907–1990)

Related Units

College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (parent college)
College of Engineering (parent college)
Department of Industrial Education and Technology, (merged, 2004)

Journal Issue

2017 Farm Progress Reports

Department

Extension and Experiment Station PublicationsAgricultural and Biosystems Engineering

Abstract

Iowa landowners and farmers increasingly are seeing the value of single species cover crops. However, in Iowa and the Upper Midwest, there has been limited research on using cover crop mixtures. In theory, cover crop mixtures have the same advantages as diverse species ecosystems like prairies. The most important advantage would be greater and more stable total plant growth. Mixing species with complimentary features can take advantage of multiple niches and environmental conditions in space, weather, time, and seasons.