The Ontario Soil and Crop Improvement Association is helping finance research into cover crop planting in standing corn.
Jaclyn Clark, the 2015 recipient of the Association's Soil Health Graduate Scholarship, is testing for both grain and silage.
She says that by the time the corn harvest is finished in the fall, the cover crop will have a head start on plant growth.
OSCIA President Gord Green suggests crop cover research may be at record levels across the province with most counties in southern Ontario having farmers currently experimenting with those crops.
University of Guelph soil scientist Dr. Bill Deen believes cover crops can play an important role in boosting soil benefits because they capture left over nutrients and add to the soil's water holding capacity.
Dean also notes soils with the best management are showing the most resistance to Southern Ontario's current lack of rainfall.
Clark's research is a collaborative effort with members of the University of Guelph's Ridgetown Campus and Trent University.
