Brief Summary of Minutes of Annual Meeting

The NCCC 211 Meeting was held in conjunction with the Annual Midwest Cover Crop Council Conference and the Iowa Soil and Water Conservation Service (SWCS) in Ames, IA (total attendance: 330). The following is the agenda of the MCCC meeting, which included a business meeting for the NCCC 211. State reports were presented during the conference and will be available on the MCCC website. Agenda Tuesday, February 17 8:00am – 9:00am NCCC 211 Regional Committee Meeting – Hancock Room (NCCC 211 Collaborators only) 9:00am – 11:00am MCCC Business Meeting – Main Conference Room (MCCC executive committee, state/province representatives, and NCCC211 collaborators) • MCCC Update • Leadership structure changes • Working session (time permitting) 11:30am Joint SWCS/MCCC General Conference Registration Opens 1:00pm - 5:00pm Joint SWCS/MCCC General Conference (open to public - see conference agenda for details) 5:00pm – 7:00pm Exhibitor and Poster Reception –(open to public - see conference agenda for details) 7:00pm Dinner on your own –Wednesday, February 18 8:00am – 3:15pm Joint SWCS/MCCC General Conference (open to the public - see conference agenda for details) 3:30pm – 4:30pm MCCC Meeting Continues – Poster/discussion session – Foyer outside Main Conference Room – (open to all MCCC and NCCC211 members) 4:30pm – 5:30pm NWF report/Social networking/discussion session –-- (open to all MCCC and NCCC211 members) - 6:00pm Dinner on your own or you are encouraged to dine with other MCCC and NCCC211 members and continue the discussions – Thursday, February 19 8:00am – 3:00pm MCCC Meeting – Lunch provided – (open to all MCCC and NCCC211 members) 8:00am – 11:30 am Oral State/Province reports for both MCCC and NCCC211 (15 min each) 11:30am – 12:30pm Lunch 12:30pm – 1:30pm Partner reports (NC-SARE, PFI, GLBW 1:30pm – 3:00pm MCCC Working Groups • Mobile app for MCCC pocket guide • MCCC Selector Tool • MCCC Website

Accomplishments Midwest Cover Crop Council Website • In 2014, the MCCC website received over 28,000 visits from 19,000 unique visitors. These visitors viewed approximately 86,000 pages of cover crop information from the website. • The MCCC listserv increased to 466 subscribers this past year and has 341 likes on Facebook. These subscribers regularly receive information, request advice and discuss current issues through the listserv. • In 2014, the web-based MCCC Cover Crop Decision Tool was accessed 1529 times by over 1200 users to assist them in making decisions about the implementation and selection of cover crops. • Member states updated state information on website. • Selector tool was updated. Midwest Cover Crop Field Guide 2nd Edition Released • The Midwest Cover Crop Field Guide, 2nd Edition was completed and released in September 2014. By April 2015, 18,000 of 20,000 printed were distributed. • The 2nd edition was expanded to include Kansas, Nebraska, North Dakota, and South Dakota. • Plans for an “app” version of the guide for tablets (IPad) has been started. MCCC-211 Committee member’s accomplishments In 2014, members and graduate students of this committee published 13 peer-reviewed publications, 3 proceedings publications, 36 conference or abstracts presentations, 23 extension publications, and numerous extension bulletins, blogs, factsheets, and websites. Also, members of this group applied for 20 research grants and advised 28 MS students, 11 PhD students, and 3 post-doctoral researchers Accomplishments by state Illinois At University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, three graduate students are actively involved in cover crop research Cover crop projects include “Agronomic and environmental assessment of cover crops in Illinois” which is funded by the Illinois Nutrient Research and Education Council, “Keystone cover crop species: Understanding the relative contribution of individual species to soil health” which is funded by the CERES Trust, and “Alleviating soil compaction and improving weed suppression with multifunctional cover crops in organic grain production systems” which is also funded by the CERES trust. A previous study recently finished by a master’s student that was a Hatch Funded Project is “Improving the sustainability of Midwestern production systems: Alleviating soil compaction and improving nutrient cycling with multifunctional cover crops”. Dr. Villamil collective work on cover crops led to invitations to speak at local and regional venues, and (to date) at three international venues: a special session at the XXIV Argentinian Soil Science Congress; a commissioned symposium at the XX World Congress of Soil Science Congress in South Korea; and as a keynote speaker at a recent Agroecology symposium at the University of San Luis de Potosi, Mexico. Additionally, University of Illinois Extension has hosted several cover crop field days and outreach opportunities including demonstration plots and some small scale research on late-planted cover crops and the use of cover crops in no-till vegetable production throughout the state. Indiana Tremendous growth in interest in cover crops in Indiana has continued. All of the partners in the Indiana Conservation Partnership have seen the need for increased training and services related to cover crops. The Indiana Conservation Partnership includes NRCS, Soil and Water Conservation Districts (SWCD), Conservation Cropping Systems Initiative (CCSI), Indiana State Department of Agriculture (ISDA), State Soil Board, and Purdue Extension. Highlights of major activities include numerous workshops and field days for farmers; “train-the-trainer” sessions on soil health, cover crops, and conservation cropping systems for conservation partnership staff; demonstration and research projects on farmer cooperator fields, also used as sites for workshops and field days; research on Purdue research farms on cover crops, soil health, and crop yields. Iowa In Iowa 58% of attendees at cover crop field days since 2009 seeded cover crops in fall 2014. Unofficial estimates are that over 400,000 acres were planted to cover crops in 2014, approximately 1.7% of the annual cropland acres in the state. This is about a 250% increase from 2013, a very positive development. In 2014, there were 54 cover research projects and demonstrations in 44 of 99 counties in Iowa. In Iowa for 2014, cover crop activities and outputs included 101 in-state field days and Extension meetings attended by 5108 individuals, seven television and radio stories were broadcast on cover crops, 22 stories were published in newspaper and trade magazines, 17 research reports were published, and 24 posted blogs. Thirteen graduate students, two postdoctoral research associates, and one research associate are conducting research on cover crops at Iowa State University. Michigan Michigan reported 437,200 acres of cover crops planted by 5,530 farm operations in the 2012 NASS Census. Michigan ranked fifth in the nation in cover crop acreage with cover crops on approximately 6.5% of Michigan cropland. A major cover crop survey was conducted by the NCR Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) program and the Conservation Technology Information Center in 2014. Michigan farmers responding to the survey increased their cover crop acres from 4215 to 8254 acres between 2009 and 2014, an increase of 95.8%. For the same period in the Michigan surveys, cover crop users on average increased cover crop acres by 55.9%. The same respondents reported average increases in corn yield of 12.9 bushels per acre and soybean yield of 9.5 bushels per acre when cover crops were used. Over 50 meetings, workshops and field days were held in Michigan by Michigan State University researchers and Extension educators that included cover crops in the program. Over 1300 participants attended these events. Four graduate students and three postdoctoral research associates are conducting research on cover crops at Michigan State University. Minnesota Minnesota reported more than 400,000 acres of cropland planted to cover crops (NASS, 2012). Cover crops are frequently utilized in canning operations including sweet corn (106,858 ac) and peas (57,808 ac) and following corn silage (361,189)(NASS, 2012). The canning industry reports that half of their contracted farmers are using cover crops in their rotations (Hoffman, Del Monte, Personal communication, 2015). Albeit much lower than in canning operations, cover crops are being used in corn/soybean rotations. Exact estimates are presently unknown, however, in the 2012-2013 North Central SARE Cover Crop Survey, corn growers (N=2) reported 21 bushel reduction in corn yield with cover crops when compared to trials without cover crop. Similar trends were observed in soybeans where soybeans with cover crops yield 51.5 bu ac-1 and without cover crops 55.5 bu ac-1. Cover crop integration into Minnesota’s corn and soybean cropping systems is faced with several challenges. These challenges center on reduced growing degree-days (when compared to Iowa), poorly drained fine texture soils, and lack of late season soil moisture and precipitation to support the cover crop. Several researchers at the University of Minnesota and USDA-ARS have organized and developed a strategic plan to increase the adoption of vegetative covers in Minnesota. This includes: breeding efforts for improved and new materials (e.g. field pennycress, hairy vetch, and cereal rye), agronomic management (e.g. cover crop establishment and termination, nitrogen management of new crops, and quantification of ecological services), and enterprise development of new markets (e.g. intermediate wheatgrass for forage and bread, winter oilseeds for biofuels). Missouri Mid Missouri Soil Health & Cover Crop Seminar: The Cooper County Soil & Water Conservation District annually sponsors a seminar targeting farmers (300+ attendees) with national speakers, in conjunction with numerous business. North Dakota In North Dakota, cover crops acreage was 213,810 acres (NASS, 2012). Cover crops awareness and adoption is increasing. This has been reflected in the increasing number of field days, and workshops in cover crops in the state. We had 63 total farmers and consultants attend the café talks in four counties. We brought in 7 different specialists and we had 1 district director for Extension, 7 commodity group and 4 county agents involved in this program. We held a total of 15 meetings, reached farmers with 30 contact hours using conversation and personal connections. Wisconsin Extension Materials for Cover Crops and Emergency Forage Use was developed. Over 750 copies of all four extension publications have been distributed to farmers, crop consultants, government agency personnel, and Extension professionals in Wisconsin. The “Herbicide Rotational Restrictions in Forage and Cover Cropping Systems” has been posted on several websites. Website visits to the blog post discussing the fact sheet exceed all other pages on the wcws.cals.wisc.edu website except for the home page, 540 versus 1670 views as of January 23, 2015.

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