BDN speaks with Lilley for article on cover crops
The Bangor Daily News interviewed Jason Lilley, a sustainable agriculture professional with University of Maine Cooperative Extension, for an article on cover crops. Cover crops are sown between seasons after crops are harvested and fields are bare, helping discourage weeds and maintain soil health during the off season, the article states. And building soil resilience through cover cropping also will help protect the land from extreme weather events, which are expected to become more frequent due to climate change, the BDN reported. “We are seeing increasingly extreme weather patterns,” said Lilley. “The roots working their way down through the soil and microbes feeding off of the sugars that are leaking off of the roots are acting as glue and helping to build up the crumbly structure of the soil.” Cover crops can help farmers and homesteaders cope with anomalously wet or dry conditions, the article states. “This spring, we had huge amounts of rainfall, and nobody could get into the field. Now, we’re approaching very dry conditions already. When you have better soil structure, you have better water infiltration so water doesn’t pool and run across the surface like it would on compacted soils. That soil can also hold on to moisture in drought conditions,” Lilley said. While cover crops are not sold for money, they still should be valued and cared for as much as any other crop. “It’s really important to have good fertility in the soil. These are still plants, so if they’re really limping along, the weeds are going to outcompete the cover crops and you’re not going to get any of that benefits,” said Lilley. “Maine producers who I have worked with are pretty excited about the use of cover crops in their systems. There’s been a lot of creativity in the last few years from the farmers as far as diversifying the types of cover crops that they are using to achieve different goals,” said Lilley. “A lot of people are concerned about taking time out of our short growing season to set fields aside for non-food production crops. What we’re really seeing is that we’re getting increases in the usability of fields, higher yields and less weed pressure. A lot of people are really seeing the benefit to setting some of the fields aside for a bit.”