SWOF Farmer Spotlight: Cover Cropping on Larson Farms

One of the things that sets our program apart from other ecosystems services providers is that we are invested in the hands-on, day-to-day work of our farming partners. A member of our team will always be on hand to make a visit to your farm or sit down for a chat to discuss any questions you might have.

Recently, we had the pleasure of being allowed to observe harvest at Larson Farms and our Monitoring & Verification Technician Connor Kriegshauser snapped some photos to showcase how cover cropping can be implemented on-farm in a cost-effective way that doesn’t negatively impact production.

Harvest is well underway for SWOF producers. The team at Larson Farms in Story County, Iowa is working to harvest their corn field, which has been enrolled in our program for the last two growing seasons.

Larson Farms are a corn and soybean operation. They broadcast apply oats for a cover crop and utilize strip-tilling practices to to place nutrients and minimize soil disturbance ahead of planting their corn crop.

Farming is a family affair for the Larsons. Husband and wife, Brent and Jody Larson, both tackle different aspects of fall field work. Here, Brent is hard at work completing harvesting, capping off a year of work to grow the crop.

When Brent gets done harvesting a field, Jody is right behind him, ready to prepare the field for the next year’s corn by broadcasting cover crop.

The Larsons use rye as a cover crop before their soybeans and following their corn. This prevents both soil erosion and leftover nitrogen leaching from the soil.

They calibrate their applicator to apply a precise amount of seeds per acre in order to maximize benefit and efficiently cover more acres.

The following spring, the rye will be terminated, and The Larsons will plant their soybeans utilizing a no-till drill into the corn residue and cover crop. This will provide suppression of weeds and create an avenue for moisture retention for the soybeans in case of dry conditions.