Link: http://www.leopold.iastate.edu/research/eco_files/ground/cover.html

Fields of winter wheat underseeded with red clover are not a familiar sight in Iowa, but it could become a favored rotation if energy costs continue to rise. Jeremy Singer, a research agronomist with the Agricultural Research Service of the USDA, is looking to find viable crop rotations for the state of Iowa. “Using winter cereal grains and forage legumes in the rotation could become a more attractive crop system because it has lower inputs,” said Singer, who works at the National Laboratory for Agriculture and the Environment in Ames. “The rotation does not require pesticides and uses considerably less nitrogen than corn. It could actually reduce costs for a rotation of corn following wheat by reducing the need for nitrogen.” Singer’s work has been funded by the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture at ISU since 2006.