Purdue researchers show cover crops facilitate sustainable stover removal

In Indiana, farmers using cover crops as a soil conservation method can remove much more corn stover per acre for biofuels or other uses and at the same time potentially increase their income, Purdue University research shows.

Using cover crops – plants such as crimson clover or annual ryegrass that blanket the soil – farmers can sustainably remove 1.8 tons more stover per acre than they otherwise would remove, the researchers say.