Daniel
Member
- Location
- Mildenhall, Suffolk
For the last couple of years we have baled straw, cleared it and sown a DSV cover crop mix https://www.dsv-uk.co.uk/cover-crops/terralife/betasola.html
This is left through winter, anything that survives to spring is killed off, then chicken muck spread on top and ploughed in.
The question is, would we benefit from spreading the muck after harvest, discing in, letting the cover crop use the nutrients, then kill it off and incorporate?
I.e. will the cover crop cycle it efficiently through the winter, or will too much N be lost for it to be worthwhile?
The benefit is that you could get the muck spread in decent conditions on long sunny days, rather than trying to force it at the end of a wet winter. The downside is its another job after harvest, might need to chop the straw to free up some time.
This is left through winter, anything that survives to spring is killed off, then chicken muck spread on top and ploughed in.
The question is, would we benefit from spreading the muck after harvest, discing in, letting the cover crop use the nutrients, then kill it off and incorporate?
I.e. will the cover crop cycle it efficiently through the winter, or will too much N be lost for it to be worthwhile?
The benefit is that you could get the muck spread in decent conditions on long sunny days, rather than trying to force it at the end of a wet winter. The downside is its another job after harvest, might need to chop the straw to free up some time.