Small grain plots on the Thompson Farm, site of my Clever Clover epiphany. The green strip in middle is where we cut grain, now flush with weeds. Compare to the weed-free under-canopy (inset) photo taken in mid-June in the uncut plots (the greenish crust is moss growing on the soil surface). I thought we could duplicate this weed-free effect in full-season annual row crops with the cover crop roller, thus saving farmers the cost of spraying and reducing the ecological footprint of agriculture. It didn’t work out that way.