Getting Started with Cover Crops: Lessons from Experience

If you're thinking about trying cover crops but feel overwhelmed, you’re not alone. Many farmers go through trial and error before finding a system that works for their fields. One farmer's experience (Richard Lyons) highlights key lessons for getting started and setting yourself up for success.

Start Small and Choose Wisely

The best way to begin is with a small acreage—perhaps 40 acres before corn and 40 acres before soybeans. It’s tempting to try different mixes, but farmer Richard Lyons recommendation is clear: start with cereal rye after corn stalks going to soybeans. It’s a simple and reliable entry point into cover cropping.

Prioritize Drainage

Before even planting a cover crop, evaluate your drainage. Whether it’s tile drainage or natural drainage, a well-drained field is crucial for success. Poor drainage can lead to failed cover crops and frustration.

Pick the Right Species for Overwintering

Many beginners use radishes and spring oats, but these die off in cold temperatures, leaving the soil unprotected in early spring. Instead, consider:

Winter Barley (½ bushel) – Breaks down quickly but isn't always winter hardy.
Wheat (½ bushel) – Provides backup if winter barley doesn’t survive.
Rapeseed & Austrian Winter Pea – Contribute to biodiversity and nitrogen fixation.

With these species, you’ll have a diverse mix that helps improve soil health and retains ground cover through winter.

Adjust Your Management Practices

Cover cropping isn't a "set it and forget it" practice, it requires new management strategies. For example, when transitioning to corn, strip-tilling helps determine when to terminate the cover crop in spring. If wheat and barley start growing over the strips, terminate early to allow for warmer, cleaner seedbeds. If conditions are cool and dry, planting green may be an option before terminating with herbicide. Plant green to maintain a living root as long as possible.

Bottom Line: Be Flexible and Keep Learning

Success with cover crops isn’t instant. Weather, soil conditions, and management choices all play a role. But by starting small, selecting the right species, and adapting your approach, you can make cover crops a profitable and sustainable part of your farming system.

Learn more about cover crop incentive programs from Illinois Sustainable Ag Partnership or get paired with a Precision Conservation Management specialist to learn what is available to you. Don't forget that IL Corn has a cover crop coupon available for ICGA members.

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By Tara Desmond • October 30, 2025

When northern Illinois farmer Dan Sanderson started farming in the 1980s, cover crops weren’t exactly mainstream. Government set-aside programs required planting something like oats, but what stuck with Dan wasn’t the paperwork. It was the difference he noticed in those acres the next year—healthier plants and stronger soils. Decades later, that observation led him down a lifelong road of conservation and soil health improvement. In this episode of IL Corn TV, Dan joins IL Corn board member Shane Gray to talk about his path toward regenerative farming, what he learned at a 2017 Soil Health Academy that changed everything, and why he now treats soil as a living system, not something to manipulate. Dan’s story is one every farmer can relate to—trial and error, lessons learned the hard way, and realizing that “good soil” is about more than yield. 🎥 Watch Part 1 now and catch Part 2 soon, where Dan dives deeper into how he’s reducing inputs, improving soil function, and still keeping his yields strong.