When it comes to cover crops, management decisions are everything. The right combination of species, seeding rate and termination timing can improve soil health and long-term farm productivity, but improper management can have a negative impact on the following cash crop. The challenge that many farmers and researchers face is that it's hard to see the full impact of those cover crop decisions before the subsequent cash crop is harvested. Ultimately, we need to observe both crops through their complete growing season to have a complete understanding of how the system works as a whole.  

Photo – Abigail Peterson, Illinois Soybean Association

To better understand how different cover crop systems perform across a full season, our team at the Illinois Soybean Association (ISA) is co-hosting an event called Dinner & Data: Cover Crop System Results. This evening program connects cover crop management decisions to dollars and bushels, providing a complete picture of their impact. It will feature research results from trials led by Nathan Johanning, a University of Illinois Extension Commercial Ag Educator who conducts research on cover crop management. 

In August 2025, ISA co-hosted a cover crop–focused field day with Johanning at the Southern Illinois University (SIU) research center in Belleville, IL. Johanning is the lead investigator on an ISA checkoff-funded study examining the many factors that influence cover crop success, including species selection, seeding rate, planting date and termination timing. Attendees toured this study along with several other research projects Johanning is leading, all aimed at providing farmers with science-based management recommendations. 

While it was valuable to see firsthand how different cover crops and management strategies affected corn and soybean stands during the summer, one big question kept coming up: "What will this do to yield?" Farmers also wanted to know how the various management approaches compared economically, especially since the trials featured a range of cover crop mixes and seeding rates. 

Now that the studies highlighted at our summer field day have been harvested, Johanning is analyzing the yield data and will present those results at the December 4 event. Farmers will see how the plots they walked in August performed and how different management decisions translated to both yield and cost. Abigail Peterson, Director of Agronomy at ISA, will also discuss the economics of these cover crop systems and what that means for on-farm decision-making. 

Photo – Darby Danzl, Illinois Soybean Association

Dinner & Data will be held on December 4, 2025, at the St. Clair County Farm Bureau Office in Belleville, Illinois, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. The event will offer CCA credits and a catered dinner to accompany the presentations. If you are interested in attending, please fill out this registration link, and feel free to reach out to Whitney Miller (whitney.miller@ilsoy.org, 309-445-0947) with any questions. We look forward to seeing you there!