Cover Crop Options on Prevented Planting Acres in 2025
Cover Crop Options on Prevented Planting Acres in 2025
As of the June 9, 2025 USDA Crop Progress Report, corn planting progress was only 88% which is 7 points behind the 5-year average of 95%. According to the United States Department of Agriculture Risk Management Agency (USDA RMA), the End of Planting Period for Corn in Kentucky is June 15, 2025 and the Final Planting date for corn in Kentucky is June 31, 2025 (USDA RMA Web Applications). For soybean, The End of Late Planting Period is July 10, 2025 for single crop and July 15, 2025 for double crop (USDA RMA Web Applications). The Final Planting Date for soybean is June 15, 2025 for single crop and June 25, 2025 for double crop.
Farmers may be considering prevented planting on a few fields this year. A summer cover crop can help manage weeds, take up nutrients already applied and build or maintain soil quality with healthy root systems.
Grass summer cover crop species: sorghum sudangrass hybrids and millets will establish and grow well in Kentucky (Table 1). Sorghum sudangrass will produce heavy biomass. Foxtail millet could be bushhogged in in the late boot stage and will not regrow.
Legume summer cover crop species: cowpea and sunn hemp both will establish well and help cover the soil (Table 1). Annual lespedeza is another option and will produce the lowest biomass of these three.
Other summer cover crop species: oilseed radish can grow over the summer, but it is harder to establish than the grasses.
Staying with one species type: If a farmer grows only a grass summer cover crop, then there are herbicide options to control broadleaf weeds should they escape the cover crop. If a farmer grows only a legume, then there are some grass herbicide options to control escapes in that crop.
Mixing Species: Mixing millet with cowpea or sunn hemp might provide excellent erosion prevention from the grass and some additional nitrogen from the legume. That additional nitrogen could be beneficial to a crop planted in the fall. The mixed species eliminates the ability to use a herbicide if other weeds escape.
The cover crop seed should be of high quality, easy to drill and provide excellent ground cover for most of the summer. “Cheap” cover crop seed that does not meet these criteria will cost too much. If the primary goal is weed suppression, then choose a cover crop with higher biomass potential. If higher biomass will lead to other challenges in the fall, then select a cover crop with less biomass potential. The Grain, Forage, and Cover Crop Guide for Kentucky (AGR-18) provides an excellent overview of the species listed above. Some of the species mentioned above are included in Table 1 here.
Table 1. Selected Summer Cover Crop Options for Prevented Planting. Table Compiled from AGR-18: Grain, Forage, and Cover Crop Guide for Kentucky. See AGR-18 for more details.
| Species
|
Seeding rate per acre |
Seeding depth (inches) |
Seeding date |
Approximate Yield, Tons/Acre |
| Grasses |
|
|
|
|
| Millet, Foxtail (German) |
15 to 20 lb drilled; 20 to 30 lb broadcast |
0.25 to 0.50 |
May 1 to Aug 1 |
1.0 to 3.0 T |
| Japanese millet |
10 lb drilled; 20 lb broadcast |
0.25 to 0.50 |
June to July |
2.5 to 5.0 T |
| Millet, Pearl |
summer cover crop: 10 lb drilled, 20 lb broadcast |
0.25 to 0.50 |
June to July |
2.5 to 5.0 T |
| Sudangrass |
20 to 30 lb drilled; 20 to 30 lb broadcast |
0.50 to 1.0 |
May 10 to Aug 1 |
2.0 to 5.0 T |
| Sorghum x Sudangrass Hybrids |
summer cover crop: 15 lb drilled; 30 lb broadcast |
0.5 to 1.5 |
Jun to Sep |
4.0 to 5.0 T |
| Legumes |
|
|
|
|
| Cowpeas |
summer cover crop: 60 lb drilled; 100 lb broadcast |
1.0 |
Jun to Jul |
2.0 T |
| Lespedeza, Annual |
20 to 25 lb alone; |
0.25 |
Feb 15 to Apr 1 |
1.0 to 2.5 T |
| Sunn hemp |
30 lb drilled, 50 lb broadcast |
0.50 to 1.0 |
June to Jul |
2.0 to 7.5 T |
| Brassicas (Mustards) |
|
|
|
|
| Turnips and related brassicas |
3 to 6 lb |
0.25 |
Apr 1 to Jun 1; Jun 15 to Nov 15 |
2 to 4 T |
Resources:
Knott, C., E. Haramoto, J. Henning, C. Lee and R. Smith. AGR-18 Grain, Forage, and Cover Crop Guide for Kentucky. Univ. of Kentucky Cooperative Extension Service. Lexington. https://publications.ca.uky.edu/sites/publications.ca.uky.edu/files/AGR18.pdf
Southeast Cover Crop Council Cover Crop Selector https://covercrop-selector.org/
USDA RMA Web Applications | Final Planting Dates https://webapp.rma.usda.gov/apps/actuarialinformationbrowser/DisplayCrop.aspx
USDA RMA First and Second Crop Rules https://old.rma.usda.gov/en/Fact-Sheets/National-Fact-Sheets/First-and-Second-Crop-Rules
Citation: Lee, Chad; Teutsch, Chris; Haramoto, Erin; Green, J.D.; Poffenbarger, Hanna. 2025. Cover Crop Options on Prevented Planting Acres in 2025. https://graincrops.ca.uky.edu. University of Kentucky, June 13, 2025.
