Key Assessment Details
- Drone seeding cover crops expands viable planting windows, but field conditions, management, application decisions, and weather will likely influence whether this practice is successful.
- Evaluate the performance of drone-seeded cover crops on your farm.
- Project includes photos, observations, and biomass measurements (estimated minimum budget: $0 per field).
- Interested in taking a deeper dive into drone seeding cover crops? This project includes optional research packages so farmers can further explore topics that support management decisions on their farms. Add-on cover crop biomass analyses or compare how different cover crops, management or seeding methods impact cover crop performance.
Assessment Background
Using drones for cover crop seeding is a relatively new approach in Wisconsin that provides opportunities to plant cover crops even when conditions or time could be limiting. However, questions remain around field conditions, cover crop selection, seeding rate, and timing that might ultimately inform when this practice is most valuable and what producers can expect.
This project evaluates the performance of drone-seeded cover crops, while collecting insights from farmers on challenges and success with the practice. Assessments provide an easy entry point to collect on-farm data and connect with other farmers and partners throughout the state.
Why Participate?
Learn through data from your farm! Whether you are a long-term cover cropper or new to the practice, gain farm-specific insights on drone-seeded cover crop performance. Ready for the next level? Add-on cover crop biomass analyses or compare how different cover crops, management, or seeding methods impact cover crop performance.
Connect with other participating farmers to hear what they are trying, how your results compare, and where others are finding success with drone seeding cover crops.
Contribute to a larger effort to support farmer-led conservation solutions and resources that can benefit other Wisconsin farmers. Results from this project will be aggregated, analyzed, and shared to support other farmers with successful cover crop adoption.
Drone-Seeded Cover Crops: Farmer-Led Research Assessment Summary
What will I learn?
This assessment evaluates the performance of drone-seeded cover crops to help inform future cover crop seeding decisions for your farm, while supporting farmer-driven recommendations for effective drone seeding.
Baseline Requirements
Data collection: cover crop evaluation (photos, height, and biomass, if applicable); field management data
Recommended to evaluate drone-seeded cover crops across different fields, conditions, management, or cover crops to maximize learning on your farm.
Take a deeper dive into drone-seeded cover crops with optional research packages to better support management decisions on your farm. Add-on cover crop biomass analyses or compare how different cover crops, management, or seeding methods impact cover crop performance.
Field and Management Considerations
Any drone-seeded cover crop, field, or management! Participants are encouraged to evaluate fields and drone-seeded cover crops that are most relevant to their goals and operations.
Evaluating and sharing information from both successful and unsuccessful drone seedings will provide valuable recommendations and expectations for drone seeding cover crops.
To improve chances of success at drone seeding, the field should be weed-free, have adequate soil moisture, and precipitation should be forecasted following planting to improve seed-to-soil contact.
Our team and other participating farmers are available to support cover crop management decisions, field selection, timing, and other considerations for successful drone seeding.
Extension’s on-farm research team is here to assist along the way. Those participating will receive technical support throughout the project. General guidance is included below as you consider this project, but more details and technical support will be provided directly to those participating.
Timeline
| Time of Year | Assessment Activities |
|---|---|
| Summer-Fall | Planning: Select field(s), decide cover crop seeding details (timing, species, rate), and connect with a drone operator. Drone seed cover crop (any time from early season interseeding into a standing crop to after crop harvest). |
| Late Fall | Cover crop evaluation (photos, height, and biomass, if applicable) prior to first killing frost. Complete field history, management, and observation survey. Share field (and lab results if applicable) for analysis. |
| Spring | Recommended for overwintering cover crops Cover crop evaluation (photos, height, and biomass, if applicable) prior to termination. Discuss individual & project-wide results. |
Data Collection for this Assessment
Field measurements, farmer-reported management information, and any observations are used to meet the objectives of this assessment, interpret individual trial results and support wider recommendations developed from research results.
- Cover crop evaluation (photos, height, and biomass, if applicable)
- Field Management Data (including field history, management details, and any other observations)
- Optional data: explore optional research packages or discuss with our team if there are other measurements you are interested in.
Participants will receive data collection sheets and guidance on submitting data, which will be analyzed and summarized into a research report by UW-Madison Extension. At the end of the season, participants and partners will review and discuss individual results and connect with other participants about project-wide results.
Budget Considerations
Groups are encouraged to budget for this project to best meet their goals and priorities. This project does not require any lab analysis, so the minimum budget for required data collection is $0 per field.
Groups are encouraged to budget for any additional expenses they wish to cover. This may include farmer participant stipends or incentive payments, labor for trial set-up or sampling, mileage, cover crop seed and management expenses, field day activities, or other additional measurements. If including additional measurements, given that analysis fees are subject to increases, groups are encouraged to reach out to their lab of choice for up-to-date costs.
Any questions on eligible costs can be directed to the specific grant or funder, if applicable.
Optional Research Packages
Interested in taking a deeper dive into drone seeding cover crops? Tailor this research trial to answer your cover cropping questions by adding one or more of the below options to the baseline project:
Cover Crop Nutrient Content or Forage Quality
Analyze cover crop biomass for nutrient content, forage quality, or other lab analysis to address your questions.
- Low effort: requires collecting cover crop biomass samples and submitting to the lab
- Additional costs will be dependent on lab analysis. Budgeting for three samples and shipping costs is recommended.
Drone Seeding Cover Crop Comparison
Explore different cover crop species, varieties, seeding rates, seeding timing, or other comparisons to see how cover crop management factors may impact establishment and biomass production.
- Medium effort: requires additional cover crop treatment and evaluation
- Suggested layout: recommend comparing cover crops within the same field to minimize other variables that may impact cover crop performance. For example, plant cover crops in two or more strips or divide the field into sections.
- Examples of drone seeding cover crop comparisons include:
- Cover crop species (ex: single vs. multispecies mix, wheat vs. rye)
- Cover crop varieties of the same species
- Seeding rate (ex: high vs. low rate)
- Seeding timing (ex: into standing crop prior to harvest vs. post-harvest)
- Other comparisons of interest!
Cover Crop Seeding Method Comparison
Compare drone seeding cover crops to another seeding method of choice (ex: drill, other broadcast method) and evaluate cover crop performance under each.
- Medium effort: requires additional cover crop seeding method
- Suggested layout: recommend comparing cover crop seeding methods within the same field to minimize other variables that may impact cover crop performance. For example, plant cover crops in two or more strips or divide the field into sections.
Drone Seeding Methods
Compare different drone settings while seeding cover crops to help identify what will be most successful for your goals and management. For example, compare different drone heights, swath widths, or other application settings and evaluate cover crop performance under each
- Medium effort: requires additional drone seeding method
- Suggested layout: recommend comparing drone seeding methods within the same field to minimize other variables that may impact cover crop performance. For example, plant cover crops in two or more strips or divide the field into sections.
Unsure if this project is right for you? Reach out to our team for more information on what you will learn, how to implement the project, or how to budget for it in an upcoming grant.
About Collaborative Producer-Led Research and Demonstration Projects
This project is a collaborative effort of Wisconsin farmers, DATCP’s Producer-Led Watershed Protection Grant Program, UW-Madison Division of Extension, and many local partners and collaborators to support producer-led research, demonstration, and education. Protocols are designed with producers to support farmer-driven conservation solutions, farmer-to-farmer learning, and coordinated data on conservation practice performance across Wisconsin.
Thank you to the Farmer Working Group for their support in developing this protocol.
