• Optimal Acre

• Optimal Cover

• Optimal EcoAsset

• Optimal Yield

PROTECT YOUR SOILS WITH OPTIMAL COVER

When living roots are continually in the soil, it provides many benefits for soil health and the environment. Cover crops are proven to prevent erosion, improve soil structure, increase organic matter, suppress weeds, increase moisture and nutrients in the soil, and more. Mid-West Fertilizer has formulated fall and summer cover crop seed mixes that provide numerous management options. Contact one of our strategic account managers or your nearest Mid-West Fertilizer location to learn more.

Cover crop seed based on your needs

Cover crops can provide multiple benefits to your farm. Our mixes are formulated to equip you with a variety of management options. Whether you are looking to reduce herbicide passes, graze cattle or simply protect the soil, we have a cover crop mix to meet your needs.

Summer Mix Options

Mid-West Fertilizer has formulated three summer cover crop mixes using a variety of warm season grasses
and legumes to provide ground cover, break compaction and serve as an additional feed source.

Summer Mix

Drought tolerant and rapid tillering warm season grasses provide quick ground cover and quality forage for feed. Fibrous roots produce significant below-ground root biomass that can break compaction layers.

Summer Mix (BMR Sudan)

All the same benefits of the Summer Mix, but with added palatability and feed quality. The BMR trait allows it to keep its quality longer into the season by reducing lignin content.

Legume Mix

This mix has legumes for nitrogen production and sunflowers and brassicas to break compaction. It can be planted to make nitrogen between wheat crops or for next year’s corn crop.

Fall Mix Options

Fall cover crop mixes have rates of radishes and turnips in addition to key cereal grains. These mixes are formulated to break
compaction, scavenge nutrients and offer additional grazing opportunities.

Cover Crop After Corn

The major component of this mix is rye, which provides good canopy and weed suppression with manageable residue. While the rye will have some fall growth, most growth takes place in the spring.

Fall Or Spring Grazing Mix

This mix is 50% rye and 50% triticale. Rye will green up first in the spring, followed by triticale a couple weeks later. This helps offer a longer spring grazing season.

Winter Kill Mix

Oats are the key ingredient in this mix. Combined with turnips and radishes, this mix can break compaction, scavenge nutrients and offer additional grazing. All components will winter kill.

Hybrid Rye

This new fall option offers the toughness of cereal rye with the ability to manage and get production similar to triticale. It provides more tonnage for grazing or haying and more biomass with a later termination option for cover crop. It responds to fertility compared to a cereal rye.

Cover Crop Blends

Our seed facility with blending capabilities has all the base ingredients for cover crop needs for producers. We offer our Mid-West Fertilizer mixes, but we will also create a custom mix to fit your needs. Cover crop mixes are blended into bulk bags or tender trucks.

The cover crop market is growing for several reasons. Mid-West Fertilizer wants to meet the needs of our producers with quality seed that’s designed to perform on local fields. This facility helps us provide cover crop seed and blends to across our entire footprint. We source different seed, make the blend and provide it directly to our producers.

Additional Resources

Cover Crops Help Stabilize the Future of Farmland >>

Cover crops continue to gain popularity as a way to improve farm ground. The regenerative agriculture movement is quickly showing an impact on the way they can improve soil structure and keep nutrients in place. This article highlights the considerations when choosing a cover crop mix and the benefits each mix brings to the field.

Some Cover Crops are Better Choices than Others >>

Cover crops can increase soil nutrients, reduce soil erosion, and suppress weeds. For cattle producers, cover crops also provide an additional source of feed. MKC Strategic Account Manager Chris Thompson talks cover crop management practices in this Hillsboro Star Journal article.

Covering Their Bases >>

“It was different than anything we’ve done before. We were planting into green stuff this tall,” Justin Regehr says, raising his hand level to his brow as he sat upright in his chair. Originally published in our Connections newsletter, this article tells the story of Inman farmers Justin and Royce Regehr’s success with cover crops on their operation.