Putting the soil to bed over winter...

摘要

Winter cover crops can provide farmers and gardeners a wealth of ecological and financial benefits especially if those crops have been bred for improved local use. "Farmers and gardeners throughout the United States need new nitrogen-fixing winter cover crops that can be better used in sustainable agricultural systems to reduce weed competition and herbicide applications, add symbiotically fixed nitrogen, and improve soil quality and tilth," says geneticist Thomas E. Devine at ARS' Sustainable Agricultural Systems Laboratory in Beltsville, Maryland. Over the years, he has spoken with many local farmers, extension agents, and scientists who have echoed the pressing need for reliable nitrogen-fixing cover crops. Those currently being used were bred for forage production.