A Gradual Start to Cover Crops

Trial and error led these farmers to a simple, flexible system of growing cover crops.

- By Raylene Nickel

Growing cover crops to control soil erosion on cropland has long been a goal at Bartholomay Kattle-Kompany in Sheldon, North Dakota. Operating on sandy land in the southeastern part of the state, father-and-son team Keith and Karl Bartholomay manage 4,000 acres of cropland and grassland along with 280 cow-calf pairs. The Bartholomays grow corn for cattle feed, soybeans for cash, and cover crops for both cattle feed and soil health. The pair received the 2023 North Dakota Leopold Conservation Award in recognition of the management systems they've built for accomplishing their conservation goals for both cropland and grassland.

Experimenting With Cover Crops

The Bartholomays said they first planted cover crops in the 1980s, looking to reduce soil erosion. “Back then, we were practicing conventional tillage, and we planted a cover crop of cereal rye to hold the soil in place in fall and over winter,” Bartholomay said. “We grew corn for silage, and we spread winter rye seed just prior to the last cultivation, when the corn was kneehigh. Then, we cultivated the corn to cover the rye seed. Sometimes, we also grew oats as a cover crop.”

After switching to no-till in 2004, they said they became more intentional about growing cover crops, not just to stop erosion but also to improve soil structure and biological activity. They also began experimenting with more species of cover crops.