Entering October, is it too late to plant small grains (wheat or possibly barley) and is it even profitable to do so? It is not too late but with wheat at roughly $4.50 to $5.00, it is difficult to make wheat profitable. Most can justify planting wheat at $6/bushel. However, $4.50 corn is not much better. Planting wheat helps improve the crop rotation, reduce weeds, and may increase other crop yields by 10%. Wheat and other small grain crops like barley, cereal rye, oats are alternative crops. The market for barley and oats are fairly limited. Due to high test weight oats grown in Canada and few breweries in Ohio, oat and barley markets are slim. At around $12/bushel for cereal rye as a cover crop, cereal rye can be profitable with good yields.  Wheat straw can be harvested to gain income and double crop soybeans are another option to add income. It’s the wheat roots that add most of the soil organic matter (80-90%), so harvesting the wheat straw is a good practice. Anything plante...

  The H2O Ohio program is a state conservation program that pays farmers for conservation practices. It includes overwintering cover crops and a small grains program to help keep nutrients out of Lake Erie. Farmers are now signing up for these programs but may not know or remember all the details. Here is a summary of the key points for each program. The purpose of these two programs is to encourage the establishment of overwintering cover crops program or a small grain. The primary goals are to reduce sheet, rill, and wind erosion and improve water quality by reducing excess nutrient flows to surface water. Adding overwintering cover crops and small grains also increases crop and soil diversity to improve soil health. Some key points on the overwintering cover crop program: The overwintering cover crop must be established no later than October 15th. Some farmers may need to hire a plane, helicopter, or a highboy applicator to get the cover crops planted in time, depending on time ...