Winter or Frost Kill

Termination Practices

• Termination with Herbicides
• Rolling and Crimping
• Mowing and Tillage (incorporation)
• Winter or Frost Kill (this page)
• Heavy Grazing

Some cover crop species will winter or frost kill. Winter cover crops that can winterkill include black oats, oats, radishes, and some other brassicas. None of these cover crops reliably winterkill in the Piedmont, but usually winterkill in the Mountains and Ridge & Valley.

Most summer cover crop will frost kill. This includes buckwheat, cowpeas, millets, sudangrass sorghum hybrids, sunflowers, and sunn hemp. The summer cover crops planted after corn can be allowed to frost kill. The residue can have a winter cover crop planted into it or be left for planting the early spring cash crop.

More Information:

• A Simple Guide for Conservation Systems in the Southeast. USDA ARS 
• Termination of Cover Crops: Management Considerations for the Subsequent Cash Crop. Conservation Systems Fact Sheet No. 11. USDA ARS

Contributors:

Dr. Charlie Cahoon, Extension Specialist, Virginia Tech; Dr. Stanley Culpepper, Extension Specialist, University of Georgia; Dr. Mike Flessner, Extension Specialist, Virginia Tech; Julia Gaskin, Extension Specialist, University of Georgia; Dr. Erin Haramoto, Assistant Professor, University of Kentucky; Dr. Andy Price, USDA Agricultural Research Service; Dr. Mark Reiter, Extension Specialist, Virginia Tech; Dr. William Vencill, Professor, University of Georgia