Teaching Organic Farming and Gardening

Cover Crops

11 | Unit 1.6

Demonstration: How to Estimate the Nitrogen

Contribution of a Cover Crop

for the instructor

Overview

Through this hand-on field

demonstration and discussion,

students will learn how to estimate

the nitrogen contribution of a

cover crop for nutrient budgeting

purposes. (Please see Unit 1.11,

Reading and Interpreting Soil

Test Reports for more on nutrient

budgeting.)

PreParatiOn and MateriaLs

1. If possible, students should have received the
   lecture portion of this unit covering the biology
   and functions of cover crops in agricultural
   systems.


2. Necessary tools and equipment: greenhouse
   
   or oven (for drying cover crops), clippers,
   
   measuring tape/stick or measuring frame, scale.


3. A mature stand of actively growing cover crops.


4. Demonstrate procedure and then assign each
   small group the tasks of cutting, drying,
   weighing, and calculating the nitrogen
   
   contribution of the cover crops (in total N lb/
   ac).

PreParatiOn tiMe

1 hour

deMOnstratiOn and discussiOn tiMe

(2) 2   hour    periods