Tracking Cover Crop Growth in Minnesota

Image of cover crop showing a few inches of growth, mostly covering the ground.

Cover crops can have impressive economic and natural resource benefits -- but only if they grow! To understand what influences cover crop biomass in Minnesota, MOSH collected pictures of cover crop growth from partners across the state, analyzed the amount of green cover in the pictures, and then compared the growth to planting dates and other factors that impact growth.

Browse the results here.

About the project

The Wilson Lab developed the Green CovR app to evaluate the amount of green growth in an image. MOSH is using this tool to estimate the amount of cover crop growth in pictures submitted by partners from Soil and Water Conservation Districts. MOSH will use this data anonymously to evaluate how successful cover crops are when planted in different contexts.