At the advent of spring, it is a great time to drive around the countryside and observe the green-up of winter cover crops. While many crop fields are barren or dotted with weeds before spring planting, fields with cover crops are springing into life from their winter dormancy. The most common and visible of these Ohio cover crops at this time of year is winter wheat.

In Ohio, cover crops have long been planted in late summer or fall to provide valuable groundcover during the winter months in between the end of one growing season and the start of another. Cover crops, including annual rye, clover, alfalfa, Austrian winter pea, and many others can protect the soil from wind and water erosion, reduce weed pressure, add nutrients to the soil, and improve soil structure.

While cover crops have many benefits, they can also offer new management challenges, added expense and a variety of different headaches. As a result of these challenges, cover crops have become much less common in the last 50 years or so, favoring a simpler corn-soybean rotation with nothing growing in the winter months.

But in just the last few years, farmers are once again taking notice of the potential benefits of cover crops and experimenting with ways to integrate them back into crop rotations. Farmers have been listening as Ohio State University Extension and conservation groups including the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) have been promoting cover crops.

“EDF supports strongly the use of cover crops, especially in combination with agronomic practices designed to increase the health of the soil as well as water infiltration rates -- such as minimum tillage systems, residue management and crop rotation,” said Karen Chapman, Great Lakes regional director for EDF. “We have begun examining how to incorporate cover crop trials into our Maumee On-Farm Network, in particular, so we can assess how cover crops might increase profitability for farmers through improved soil health as well as improve water quality.”

One of the nation’s leaders in on-farm cover crop experimentation happens to live just around the corner from my home in Fairfield County. I have heard my neighbor talk several times at various meetings about one of his favorite cover crops, the oilseed radish. This cover crop has many benefits, but is best known for its ability to break up compacted soils in fields. It also scavenges nutrients and has vigorous fall growth. The crop dies in the winter and leaves soils mellow and ready to plant in the spring with no need to manage the cover crop.

One unfortunate side effect of this cover crop, though, is the unbelievable aroma of the rotting crop in winter fields. Since our home is just a couple of miles from this nationally known farm, my wife and I have some first-hand experience with the odor of the oilseed radish. Early last winter, when we would load up the kids to drive somewhere, just about a mile or so into our journeys we would smell something awful.

At first, my wife and I thought some small mammal had crawled into our engine and died. But after a few more trips, in multiple vehicles, we determined that it was not just our car, ruling out the dead-animal-in-the-engine theory.

Then it occurred to me that the smell originated in the general area of this nearby farm. A few more olfactory observations confirmed my suspicions – oilseed radishes were to blame for the incredible odor floating up into the cold winter skies of my rural Fairfield County neighborhood. From then on, oilseed radishes were an almost daily topic of conversation for my three-year-old daughter who was both disgusted and fascinated with their odor.

Apparently, we were not the only people smelling the rotting radishes. The local fire department was swamped with calls from concerned citizens fearing there was some sort of gas leak in the area. The farmer and local firemen were even interviewed on the evening news to address the smelly situation. In the TV interview, the farmer explained that the smelly crop improved his soils and reduced the need to spray herbicides in the spring.

The persistent stench hung on for a surprising duration throughout the winter. There is no doubt that the many Ohio farmers working with cover crops are doing great things for their soils and the environment, but sometimes, conservation stinks.