Flat River Hemp Oil Farming with Experience: Cover Crops Posted on Jan 29 2021 by Paigedellafranca@gmail.com
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- Mustard Seed
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- Crimson Clover
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- Rye Grass
Cover crops are a great tool to use when practicing organic, sustainable agriculture. There are a multitude of uses from pest control to weed mitigation. Although there are many published articles on the subject, as a farmer, it is always fun to experiment yourself with different species of cover crops to see which ones or what combination works best for you.
The full list of uses that the NRCS gives is as follows:
- Conservation Tillage
- Erosion Control
- Forage/Grazing Lands
- Wildlife
- Organic Gardening
- Conservation Buffers
- Green Manure
- To improve soil health
- Water Quality Improvement
- Highway beautification and erosion control
- Ground Cover in Citrus Groves
- Increase Soil Organic Matter
- Conserves Soil Moisture
- Provides Food and Shelter for Livestock
Things to consider when choosing a cover crop:
1. What region are you planting in?
2. What use will my cover crop be used for?
3. What time of year would I like to plant my cover crop?
There are four classifications:
- Legumes
- Grasses
- Brassicas
- Non-Legume Broad Leaves
Three planting categories:
- perennials
- summer annuals
- winter annuals
Types of cover crops:
Legumes = most popular, commonly combined with grass
Legumes = most popular, commonly combined with grass
Good for:
– fix atmospheric nitrogen
– prevent erosion
– add organic matter to soil
– fix atmospheric nitrogen
– prevent erosion
– add organic matter to soil
Bad for:
– removing excess nitrogen
-suppressing weeds
Grasses = high in carbon, this makes soil breakdown and weed suppression easier
Good for:
– adding organic matter to the soil
– erosion control
– cattle grazing
Bad for:
– limit other crops from accessing nitrogen
Brassicas = fast growing with strong biomass
Good for:
– fall erosion
– absorbing excess nutrients in the soil
– pest control (they release toxin into the soil to ward some pests off)
Non-Legume Broad Leaves = higher in carbon than legumes, include spinach, radishes, flax and others
Non-Legume Broad Leaves = higher in carbon than legumes, include spinach, radishes, flax and others
– break up compact soils like clay
Cover Crops by Region:
- Southeast
- winter = hairy vetch, Caley pea
- summer = perennial peanuts, sunn hemp
- Northeast
- winter = ryegrass, barley
- Midwest
- alfalfa, red and white clovers
- Southern Plains
- hairy vetch
- West Coast
- grasses tolerant to both dry and wet conditions