Quick Cover Crop Tips from a Farmer & Professor with 16 Years of Experience
By Tara Desmond • May 14, 2026
Pete Fandel is a full-time farmer and agriculture professor at Illinois Central College and shares his firsthand knowledge of cover cropping, built over 16 years of on-farm experience .
In this video, Pete breaks down:
- How he transitioned his family's diversified grain and livestock operation to a corn, soybean, and winter wheat system
- Which cover crop mixes he uses ahead of corn (winter barley or triticale + camelina, radishes, or turnips) and why
- Why he avoids cereal rye before corn and what to use instead
- The best starting point for farmers new to cover crops: cereal rye + rapeseed ahead of soybeans
- How rapeseed can help suppress soybean nematodes and the fungus responsible for sudden death syndrome
Whether you're just getting started with cover crops or looking to refine your species selection, Pete's practical, field-tested advice is a great resource for Midwest grain farmers.
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By Tara Desmond
•
May 14, 2026
The Illinois Livestock Development Group (ILDG) recently welcomed Annie Hadden as its new Director of Livestock Development. As one of several commodity partners supporting ILDG alongside the Illinois Beef Association , Illinois Farm Bureau , Illinois Milk Producers Association , Illinois Pork Producers Association and Illinois Soybean Association , IL Corn has a vested interest in seeing livestock production thrive across the state. A strong livestock industry means a stronger market for Illinois corn, and a stronger Illinois agriculture overall. Get to Know Annie: Where It All Began For Hadden, the livestock industry isn't a career she stumbled into but one she was born into. Growing up in Southeastern Indiana, she spent every Sunday on her grandfather's farm, where her love for agriculture first took root. "My passion for the livestock industry started at a young age, right there on my grandpa's farm every Sunday afternoon," Hadden said. "Though at a small scale comparatively, there is livestock on both sides of my family lineage tracing back as far as the eye can see." When her family eventually moved to the farm after her grandfather's passing, Hadden threw herself into 4-H, showing dairy feeder steers, beef steers, and eventually sheep adding fuel to a fire that still burns brightly today. "My passion for the livestock industry grew and developed over time, and today, it burns as bright as ever," she said.










