MUNCIE – A foundation is offering to help Delaware County farmers plant cover crops on some of the thousands of acres of flooded and unplanted fields created by record-breaking rainfall.
About 20 inches of rain fell on the county from April 15 through July 10, according to Candace Kindt from the Delaware County Soil and Water Conservation District.
Many flooded/unplanted corn and soybean fields will be left bare until next year, causing soil erosion and more nutrient/sediment pollution of the White and Mississinewa rivers — which already rank among the most impaired recreational streams in the state, Kindt reported in a grant application.
Cover crops have been called a protective “green blanket” and “green manure” that builds organic matter in the soil, suppresses weeds, protects against wind and soil erosion, and provides habitat for pollinators and other wildlife.
“Our goal is to help get some ground covered,” Kindt told The Star Press. “We want to see those acres covered to prevent loss of soil and productivity for the 2016 growing season.
Ball Brothers Foundations approved a $5,000 “rapid grant” to the soil and water conservation district to help offset the cost to farmers of planting cover crops, which are not cash crops to be harvested like corn and soybeans.
“Cereal rye, annual rye grass, radishes and clover are popular species,” Kindt said.
Sunflowers, sunnhemp, pearl millet, Austrian winter peas, oats, cowpeas, sorghum-sudangrass and Ethiopian cabbage also have been tried as cover crops in Delaware County.
The USDA Delaware County Emergency Board met recently to assess whether this year’s field corn, soybean and wheat crops — normally worth more than $100 million — are a disaster.
No determination has been made yet by state or U.S. Department of Agriculture officials.
Will Herr, director of the Farm Service Agency office in Delaware County, previously told the Star Press: “A fairly substantial amount of acreage is idle. It didn’t get planted. I think it will be less than 10 percent, but in a normal year, it would be rare to get any prevented planting … “
“This cropland disaster is a new opportunity to expose new farmers to cover crop practices,” Kindt told Ball Brothers. “This may be the season where they have the time to experiment with this practice …”