Cover Crops

Save the date for cover crop workshop on Friday, February 7, 2025

Registration for the cover crop workshop opens in early January 2025.

The workshop takes place on Friday, February 7, 2025 at 239 Bill Fleming Drive in Clinton, Ontario.

The workshop takes place from 9:30 a.m. to 12 p.m. noon with hot lunch to follow.

The cover crop workshop is hosted in partnership by Huron County Soil and Crop Improvement Association (HSCIA) and Ausable Bayfield Conservation.

We would like to acknowledge funding support from Fred and Barbara Erb Family Foundation.

What are cover crops?

Cover crops are plants that are grown in agricultural fields both before the main crop is planted and after it is harvested. 

Cover crops have many benefits to the landowner and the community. Cover crops:

• Help to protect water quality and build soil health.
• Help to reduce loss of nutrients and topsoil and reduce the amount of speed of water running off of land.
• Help reduce wind speed at ground level which reduces wind and water erosion and the speed of water runoff.

Check out the map:

Please enter your address in the search bar on the top right of the map below to determine what watershed you are in. Then click the map to determine the  programs you are eligible for and to get a link to the proper application form. To see the legend press the >> on the top left corner of the map.

Application forms:

• Canada Nature Fund Application – PDF file
• Canada Nature Fund Requirements – PDF file
• ECCC (Environment and Climate Change Canada) Priority Place Fund Requirements  – 200 KB (medium-sized) PDF file
• Huron Clean Water Project Cover Crop Application and Expense Claim Form 2024 and Requirements – 300 KB (medium-sized) PDF file
• Boost Requirements – PDF file

If you have any questions at all about the forms or application process, please contact Brooklyn or Hope.

Their contact information is on our staff contacts page:

• Contact staff

Cover Crops in Sixty-Inch Corn

This research project observed the effect of different cover cropping strategies within a 60-inch twin-row corn scenario. 

Variables include population size (64,000 versus 48,000), the effect of different cover crop mixes, and cover crop seeding rate (30 pounds per acre versus 60 pounds per acre).

Here are some video updates about the project:

First Video (Posted June 2020):

• Cover Crop Demonstration – Cover Crop Solutions – #covercrops #60inchcorn

Second Video (Posted July 2020):

• Cover Crops in Sixty Inch Corn Update – Healthy Lake Huron – Clean Water, Clean Beaches

#healthylakehuron #landtolake #pieceofthepuzzle

Cover Crop Comparisons

Check out this 60-inch corn comparison chart:

• Cover crops in 60-inch corn comparison chart

Cover Crop in 60-inch Corn Presentation

Watch this presentation, on the Cover Crops in 60-inch Corn Trial, from Ross Wilson and Hope Brock, Ausable Bayfield Conservation, from the Annual Cover Crops Workshop on January 29, 2021:

• Cover Crops in 60-inch Corn Trial

Cover Crop Videos

Watch other cover crop videos on our YouTube channel:

• Cover Crop Innovations in Huron County

There have been a number of cover crop innovations found throughout Huron County over the past few years.  Here are a few highlights from 2020. Ausable Bayfield Conservation thanks all the farmers adopting cover crops and improving soil health and water quality. Grants and staff support may be available. Visit abca.ca to find out more.

• Cover Crops 101

Ross Wilson, MSC; PAg; CCA-ON; Water and Soils Resource Coordinator, Ausable Bayfield Conservation, talks about the many benefits of cover crops and 'service crops.' Thanks to https://www.bensound.com/? for the wonderful music.

• Let's Root for Roots

Let's root for roots! In this video, certified crop advisor Ross Wilson, of Ausable Bayfield Conservation, takes you on a tour of what's underneath the surface. You may never look at roots the same way! Just as every player on the ice has a role to play, each kind of cover crop can play a different role and achieve different goals for you. #healthylakehuron? #landtolake? #pieceofthepuzzle? Thanks to https://www.bensound.com/ for the wonderful music. #healthylakehuron #landtolake #pieceofthepuzzle

• Cover Crops and Pollinators

More bees please! Help our pollinators ... plant cover crops. Ross Wilson, a certified crop advisor and Water and Soils Resource Coordinator with Ausable Bayfield Conservation,  visits the farms of two local participating landowners and shows how some cover crops attract pollinators. Pollinators, like bees, are needed for growth and life.

• Cover Crop Demonstration, Cover Crop Solutions

Have you wondered about using #covercrops? after corn?  Find out more about using #60inchcorn? to help establish a cover crop during this trial project south of Clinton, Ontario, Canada. Stay tuned for more updates over the season! #pieceofthepuzzle? #healthylakehuron? #landtolake? Thanks to https://www.bensound.com/ for use of the music ('Sunny').

• Pollinator Strip at Huronview Demonstration Farm

Have you heard about pollinator strips? They help with wind and water erosion and provide habitat for local pollinators. Check out this video from Huronview Demonstration Farm www.huronview.net @HuronSoilCrop @HealthyLkHuron #pieceofthepuzzle? #healthylakehuron? #landtolake? Simon's Song music by Dan Lebowitz, royalty-free music courtesy of MusicHub

Cover Crops and Soil Health

Visit our page for recent soil health initiatives:

• Soil – Soil Health – Recent Initiatives

Also, visit the soils page of the Conservation Strategy developed by your watershed community:

• Soil