Written by Charlotte Cunningham
Hutchinsons has unveiled a new range of tailor-made cover crop mixes that includes options which are claimed to help improve the structure and health of land left fallow this spring. Charlotte Cunningham reports. With many fields in the wettest parts of the UK likely to take weeks, if not months, to dry out enough before spring drilling is possible, it’s believed that more growers are opting to leave land uncropped rather than force a seedbed and damage soil structure in the process. “This year specifically, a lot of fields are in a mess after late-harvested crops like maize, potatoes and carrots, while others remain waterlogged,” says Hutchinsons Bioagri ecologist Ed Brown. “We’re past the situation where winter wheat is viable, while spring barley prospects don’t look great given the saturated market and likely difficulties of creating a seedbed in time.” Leaving fallow land bare and trying to rectify structural issues with cultivations alone is likely to exacerbate soil structure problems rather than alleviate them, so cover crops will have a vital role, he says. “You need roots in the soil to feed biology, restructure soils, build organic matter, and act as a water pump to manage moisture through the profile.…
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