Cover Crops

by | Mar 3, 2023 | Uncategorized

What exactly is a cover crop? A cover crop is a crop that was planted specifically to help the soil rather than use for a harvest. These crops can be used for many reasons such as slowing down soil erosion and breaking up compaction, they can also help control disease and pests. Another great reason to plant cover crops is they can assist you in adding nutrients back into the soil depending on what your soil lacks and needs.

It’s always best to test your soil first to see exactly what is missing before planting anything. Specific cover crops can help with specific issues, they can even be mixed to help you with several things at once. For example, if you want to add more nitrogen into your soil then you would be looking at legumes as a good cover crop option.

Let’s talk about timing and when it’s best to seed down a cover crop. Typically cover crops are planted in the cooler seasons after the last harvests of the year. However, they can be used in the summer if you need to let some soil rest and can be used before your summer planting season begins by seeding the crop down in early spring.

As mentioned earlier, certain crops can add specific nutrients based on what you need. There are four main cover crop groups: Grasses, Legumes, Non-Legume Broadleaf and Brassicas. Below is a more specific look at what each crop group can do.

Grasses = (ex: rye or barley) reduces erosion, holds on to nitrogen, weed suppression, can increase organic material and seeks out nutrients 

Legumes = (ex: alfalfa or clover) are nitrogen fixers, increase organic matter and soil porosity, breaks pest cycles and increases microbes in the soil

Non-Legume Broadleaf = (ex: spinach or flax) can help reduce soil erosion, suppress weeds, searches for leftover nutrients such as nitrogen, and adds organic material into the soil

Brassicae = (ex: radish and turnips) is great to help break up compacted soil, reduces erosion, can suppress weeds, and suppresses pest and disease

When using cover crops, it’s key to terminate the crop before it goes to seed. Some crops need to flower before termination, while others need to be terminated before flowering. Be sure to look into what crop you plan to grow in order to know what timing is best. One of the easiest ways to terminate a cover crop is letting it get killed off by the winter cold, but other ways include mowing or tilling, roller crimping or grazing. When utilizing grazing as a termination method, one thing that should be considered before you lay down a cover crop is knowing which crops may be toxic to your livestock. Some crops such as sorghum and amaranth can be potentially toxic, so it’s best to know what you are seeding before doing so. It also depends on what type of livestock you plan to graze, cattle may be more susceptible than sheep and vise versa.

Cover crops can be a really great tool to utilize in between growing seasons and can do a lot of the work for you organically without the use of pesticides.

// Jess Rollar

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