Living Roots: Keeping Fields Alive Through Drought and Beyond

Hello September!

We are seeing soybean and corn crops across the valley edging closer and closer to harvest. But this year, with severe drought taking its toll, many fields are showing stress, shortened plants, and disappointing yields. These conditions don’t just affect this year’s harvest—they leave soils vulnerable going into fall and winter.

That’s why more and more farmers across the Ottawa Valley are turning to cover crops to keep Living Roots in the ground after corn and soy. Valley Bio is proud to be working with a growing number of farms in our region to make this shift, helping to build healthier, more resilient soils for the long term.

Why Living Roots Matter

Living roots are the lifeline of soil health. They extend the growing season, capture sunlight long after the combine passes, and feed the microbial life that powers nutrient cycling.

In drought years, the value of living roots becomes even more clear:

• Rebuilding Structure – Roots open channels that improve infiltration and help soils store water when the rains finally come.

• Jumpstarting Biology – Drought slows microbial life; cover crop roots revive it, fueling activity with sugars and exudates.

• Preventing Erosion – Dry, fragile soils are easily lost to wind and rain. Cover crops anchor that topsoil in place.

Cover Crop Options for September

After soybeans and corn, here are strong cover crop options that Valley Bio is helping farmers across the Ottawa Valley put in the ground:

• Winter Rye
  The most reliable option for late planting, rye thrives even in dry conditions, survives winter with ease, and establishes aggressive spring growth. Rye delivers excellent weed suppression, biomass, and soil protection—making it a cornerstone cover crop. It not only helps build soil structure but can also offer added grazing or forage opportunities where livestock are part of the system.

• Rye + Radish Blend
  Rye brings winter hardiness, while radish sends taproots deep into compacted soils, helping rebuild structure and scavenging leftover nutrients. This blend is especially effective in drought-stressed fields that need both resilience and recovery. Works very well when drone seeding into soybeans at leaf drop.

• Winter Barley
  Quick to establish with a dense root system, barley is a strong fall option with decent winter survival. It adds diversity to rotations and works well in systems looking for early forage potential in spring.

• Winter Wheat
  A versatile and dependable choice that provides steady cover through winter and into spring. Wheat offers excellent rooting, soil protection, and can be managed flexibly ahead of a variety of spring cash crops - or it is the spring cash crop!. It’s an especially good fit where farmers want manageable residue and a reliable living root system.

• Winter Canola
  A deeper-rooted brassica that brings both diversity and soil benefits. Winter canola establishes well in the fall, provides strong rooting over winter, and jump-starts quickly in spring.

• Winter Peas
  A legume option that fixes atmospheric nitrogen and supports soil fertility. Peas can be grown alone or in blends with cereals for better overwintering. They provide protein-rich forage in spring or can be harvested for seed, while also fueling soil microbes with high-quality root exudates.

• Winter Triticale
  A cross between rye and wheat, triticale combines the hardiness of rye with the forage quality of wheat. It produces high biomass, protects soils over winter, and delivers excellent spring forage potential. Triticale is a great option for forage-focused systems or fields needing strong erosion control.

Enhanced Photosynthesis & Spring Solar Capture

One of the greatest advantages of keeping living roots is extended photosynthesis. Even after drought-stricken corn and soy are done, cover crops continue turning sunlight into carbon-rich compounds that build soil biology.

But the real game-changer comes in early spring. While cash crops can’t be planted yet, cover crops are already photosynthesizing, capturing solar energy weeks ahead of planting season. That early green growth jump-starts the soil, increases organic matter, and creates a healthier, more fertile seedbed for the year ahead.

This is the essence of solar capture—maximizing every hour of sunlight to build long-term soil health with the potential to reduce reliance on costly inputs.

Looking Ahead

Despite the drought, there’s a silver lining: by planting cover crops this fall, farmers across the Ottawa Valley are giving their soils a chance to recover stronger and healthier than before. Living roots extend the growing season, restore biology, and lay the foundation for resilience in future years.

At Valley Bio, we’re excited to see so many farmers making the move into cover crops. Together, we’re building healthier soils and stronger farms, one acre at a time.