Photo courtesy Iowa State University
Iowa Soybean Association researchers continue to see significant declines in nutrient runoff on fields planted to cover crops.
“This year, cover crops across the state reduced nitrogen concentrations in tile water by about 28 percent,” says Adam Kiel, ISA’s operations manager for water resources. “That’s pretty much in line with what we’ve seen the past couple years. We usually bounce right around a 30 percent or so reduction in nitrate concentration from fields with cover crops.”
Kiel says another common question is how nitrogen application rates relate to nitrate concentrations in tile water.
