Brad Cochran
Progressing from Single Species to Multi Species Cover Crops to Improve Soil Health 
Brad Cochran is the 27th in our series of Profiles of Soil Health Heroes. I visited Brad on November 4, 2016 with Brad Denton, NRCS District Conservationist, Madison County. Brad farms in Madison, Carroll, and Henderson Counties, Tennessee. Brad has essentially farmed his entire life. He is a second-generation farmer. His operation is approximately 4,000 acres. Brad and his family produce corn, cotton, soybean, and wheat farming operation. In 2016, he did not plant any cotton. Brad grows his corn on 30" rows, soybeans on 15" rows, and cotton on 38" rows. He said up to the 1980s, they farmed like everyone else at the time and used conventional tillage methods. Erosion was just an accepted result of farming.
Brad's nutrient management plan involves annual grid sampling in 5-acre blocks or grids. He follows a three-year rotation of liming. He limes by soil test and applies it with variable rates. He grows both full season soybeans as well as double cropped soybeans after wheat, which make up 20-25% of his soybean crop. Brad participates with NRCS. Brad now believes in using cover crops. He currently has planted in 2016 3,000 acres in multi species cover crops. Another 1,000 acres are in cereal rye. Brad only receives financial assistance on approximately 1/3
of his acres. He sees the importance of cover crops, and invests the rest with his funds.
He said in the late 1980s to the early 90s, they began no-tilling cotton with a bushel per acre of wheat for a cover crop. They would aerial seed the wheat via an airplane. In the mid-1990s, he attended a national no-till conference in the Mid-West. That led to his interest in annual rye grass as a cover crop. He said that he remembers his grandfather growing cover crops. Of course, his grandfather plowed the cover under. I asked him what were the driving forces to cause him to go to a permanent cover crop system and use no-till? He said that as he no-tilled his cotton, he saw all erosion reduced as the soil was covered compared to conventional tillage with cotton. He also saw the need to add rotations to his then cotton-dominated crop production system. Adding corn added residues and added more crop biomass which adds to the soil organic matter (SOM). He saw the need from conferences to add cover for erosion control, and to increase SOM. He ultimately wanted to sustain the soil.
I give you this background because our next Profiles of Heroes, number 26 is Charlie Roberts from Halls, Tennessee in Lauderdale County. Halls Crossroads
in Knox County is approximately 400 miles east of Halls, Tennessee in Lauderdale County. I say all of this because it has been a common miscommunication. Recently a delivery for Halls in Knox County comes to Halls in West Tennessee. The driver of the truck was absolutely perturbed when he realized that he had to drive an additional 400 miles east because of miscommunication from his home office. So on November 3, 2016, I made my way from Halls in North Knox County to just 14 miles east of the Mississippi River in Halls, Tennessee. I met Charlie Roberts and George Henshaw, NRCS District Conservationist for Lauderdale County at Charlie's mother's place of business, Charlene's Collectibles and lunch at " Just Divine Tea Room." I was surprised by the bustle of activity at Charlene's Collectibles with several women all over the region shopping and eating. I am not accustomed to eating at too many "Tea Rooms;" however, I must say the food was great and plentiful for a man's appetite. I can see why the crowd was there.
Tobacco is not normally thought of as a crop that improves soil health. By the time George Washington returned to Mount Vernon in the 1780s, tobacco was a predominant cash crop in the colonies and had been since 1611. Like his father before him, Washington grew tobacco. He noticed the land had lost its fertility. George Washinton replaced tobacco with wheat and began a crop rotation system to bring life back into the soil. Many years after, we are still trying crop rotations that will improve our soil health. Traditionally, tobacco is plowed and followed by at least two other secondary tillage methods to smooth the field prior to transplanting. Even though tobacco is normally rotated, a typical tobacco field can suffer from soil erosion during the years in tobacco. When you examine a traditionally plowed tobacco field, one normally does not see many soil health indicators improving.
and Clay Counties, Tennessee, as well in Monroe, Barren, and Metcalf Counties, Kentucky. Corby grows personally approximately 250 acres of Burly tobacco. He works with his son, Christopher, and nephew, Elliot. Their combined acres total approximately 1,000 acres of Burly tobacco. There are also others in his family involved. Corby is the specialist for setting tobacco where Christopher focuses on fertility, and Elliot on weed management. They all have their personal farms but work together as far as advising and assisting one another. Corby also grows corn, soybeans, and some cereal rye. He also grows some sweet potatoes. His tobacco is planted in 40" rows. Corn and soybeans are planted on 20" rows. He annually soil tests. He maintains a pH of approximately 6.2 or greater. His yields in the last three years have been approximately 70 bushels of soybeans, 210 bushels of corn per acre, and 1600 - 2100 pounds of tobacco per acre.
Our 25th Profiles of Soil Health Heroes are Justin and Javen Fann. The Fann Brothers farm in Warren and Cannon Counties, Tennessee. They are third generation farmers. Their soils are mostly Dixson soils and lays gently on approximately 0-4% slopes. I visited the farm with the brothers, Javen's son, J. Daxton Fann, Trent Hancock, an employee, and Matt Feno, District Conservationist, NRCS, McMinnville, Tennessee.
Our 23rd Profiles of Soil Health Heroes is from Claiborne County, Tennessee. He is James England. James farms approximately 1,000 acres, and raises beef cattle. His soils are from dolomitic cherty limestone with slopes from 3-5% on cropland and 8 - 25% plus on pastureland. He grazes 280 total head including 160 cows with calves and replacement heifers. He has 40 fields that are generally 15 - 40 acres each. He has installed 30 water 
tanks, so he can easily subdivide into smaller paddocks. He also feeds corn and hay to 30 total steers and heifers, and feeds them out to 500 - 900 pounds depending on market prices. He grows 30 acres of corn. He no-tills and uses a multi species cover crop on his corn land. He also plants sorghum-sudan grass for hay. James broadcasts his sorghum-sudan grass seed and breaks the ground with a harrow for planting. He plants sorghum-sudan grass approximately June 1. James cuts one cutting off of sorghum-sudan grass and grazes the rest of the season. He plants winter covers in the fall. I asked James what fields are grazed, and he said all of them. The corn field is grazed in fall and spring when in winter cover crops.