Using Manually Operated Seeders for Precision Cover Crop Plantings on the Small Farm

Created with SARE support
Mark Schonbeck and Ron Morse | 2006 | 5 pages
Virginia Association for Biological Farming information sheet

Growing good cover crops begins with planting the seed uniformly and at the right rate and depth to ensure a good stand. This can be especially challenging for small-scale farms that do not have access to tractor-drawn grain drills, which can cost $6,000 to 8,000 for a 4-foot to 6-foot-wide drill. This Virginia Association for Biological Farming information sheet describes research on using inexpensive (under $100), manually operated seeders to establish consistent cover crop stands.

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This material is based upon work that is supported by the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, U.S. Department of Agriculture through the Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) program. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the view of the U.S. Department of Agriculture or SARE.