Cover Crops and Conservation Tillage
for Soil Erosion Control on Cropland
Soybean - First-year rotations
Soybeans should not be planted into a 1-year-old stand of crownvetch and birdsfoot trefoil, since the cover crop is too difficult to manage with present soybean herbicides. Traditional residual herbicides don't suppress the cover crop enough, and Roundup on Roundup Ready soybean will wipe out a crownvetch cover crop. Birdsfoot trefoil will tolerate Roundup but with the addition of Sencor (metribuzin) applied before soybeans are planted or emerge will help suppress BFT. See Table 6 for treatments that can be used on a well-established cover.