Cover crop costs

[heyfarm]

Just working out what cover/catch crops were going to put in this year. Planning on oats, vetch, clover, and mustard. Working out about £30/ha. What are people spending per ha on mixes?

 

[Wigeon]

Been putting in hutchinsons maxi intercrop mix. £35/ha

 

[EddAke]

This year our winter cover will be vetch, radish and Phacelia mixed with home grown oats - works out just under £30 a ha for the bought seed (from Kings) plus about £3/ha for the oats.

 

[Luke Cropwalker]

I think the cost of cover crop seed mixtures are too expensive for the benefits. Think outside the box, buy some straights and mix yourself, grow a small area on and combine for your own use. While I think cover crops can be a very useful way of adding OM to soils it shouldn't be yet another way of lining the pockets of the trade. I was once on a farm walk and I suggested to the host farmer he left a strip of his cover crop to harvest, a certain gentleman from King's was VERY defensive, this told me all I needed to know.

 

[Brisel]

£0 - 35/ha here. Buying straights would be best if you have the tools for blending your own e.g. a cement mixer. That way you could vary the ingredients with date of sowing, following crop.

 

[ajd132]

I think the cost of cover crop seed mixtures are too expensive for the benefits. Think outside the box, buy some straights and mix yourself, grow a small area on and combine for your own use. While I think cover crops can be a very useful way of adding OM to soils it shouldn't be yet another way of lining the pockets of the trade. I was once on a farm walk and I suggested to the host farmer he left a strip of his cover crop to harvest, a certain gentleman from King's was VERY defensive, this told me all I needed to know.

agree, way to expensive these mixes often with components in for no reason. the farmer needs to know exactly what each component is adding. for example what does black oats offer over normal farm saved oats, or vetch over farm saved peas in true monetry terms? (im sure they can give you a whole load of clever reasons that dont add up)

 

[cquick]

£18/ha here between OSR and WW, 10 way mix (could be much simpler, but I'm using this early slot to experiment/characterise some species). Half is already in the ground
£24/ha for a winter cover.
Lots of home saved seed and cheap straights, mixed by running them between 2 tote bins in 500kg batches.

 

[D14]

£0 - 35/ha here. Buying straights would be best if you have the tools for blending your own e.g. a cement mixer. That way you could vary the ingredients with date of sowing, following crop.

All we've done is spin some straights on with a spinner at 12m. 200ac per day easily enough and then drill another straight which will provide soil cover for what you've spun on whether thats one pass or 10 passes it matters not. We just spin 50ac of whatever and then drill 50ac and carry on like that per day.

 

[Rainmaker]

36 pound/ha here this year for 4 straights mixed into the drill by hand. Only use certified seed so pushes the cost up.

 

[Luke Cropwalker]

agree, way to expensive these mixes often with components in for no reason. the farmer needs to know exactly what each component is adding. for example what does black oats offer over normal farm saved oats, or vetch over farm saved peas in true monetry terms? (im sure they can give you a whole load of clever reasons that dont add up)

As fat as I can see the only difference between black oats and normal oats is the price of the seed. However should cover crops be thought of as a cost or an investment in your soils?

 

[ajd132]

As fat as I can see the only difference between black oats and normal oats is the price of the seed. However should cover crops be thought of as a cost or an investment in your soils?

An investment of course, but you need to know what you are investing in

 

[deleted user 837354]

I suppose £15/acre to protect the soil, lock up nutrients and build some serious organic matter isn't bad when you work out what it would cost to say run a dung spreading crew for a couple of days.

 

[Colin]

I have bought a pallet of Bento radish as that is good against free living nematodes, I forget the price though. The other components will be oats or rye, both hss.

 

[Kiwi Pete]

An investment of course, but you need to know what you are investing in

If it's your winter calf feed as well then it's worth spending a few bob, or I think so. Our spend was about £50/ha all up and will give us 150 days grazing or so. Paid for itself in 18 days.

 

[ajd132]

If it's your winter calf feed as well then it's worth spending a few bob, or I think so. Our spend was about £50/ha all up and will give us 150 days grazing or so. Paid for itself in 18 days.

Yep. All depends on what you are doing. My 8 week catch crop is going to cost me £8/ha, over winter cover £18/ha.
some of the mixes Being touted by the trade over here do not show value for their cost.

 

[pear]

If it's your winter calf feed as well then it's worth spending a few bob, or I think so. Our spend was about £50/ha all up and will give us 150 days grazing or so. Paid for itself in 18 days.

@Kiwi Pete Is that the cost for a bought mix or straights you have bought and mixed up yourself?

 

[Kiwi Pete]

@Kiwi Pete Is that the cost for a bought mix or straights you have bought and mixed up yourself?

"In between", mixed up at the local seed supply place where my mate is chief agronomist in their fancy new mixer.
We put quite a few things in to see how they'd compete with pasture, 8 inches of rain the weekend after drilling it showed what does and doesn't have the vigour to compete in a no-kill stitch-in scenario.

Oats went way better than rye, buckwheat and phacelia couldn't hack it, vetch did well.
Sunflowers nailed by the first -7 frost.
Radishes and brassicas powering through.
Too late on for beans to pod up, and too early for the peas which are cardboard-coloured. Lupins went well until the cold bit them off.

So it's been a good experiment in many ways, I would certainly do it again albeit with a different mix of species.
More brassicas, possibly a big tetraploid ryegrass, oats, sunnies, more vetch and possibly crimson clover. If I was going to use beans and lupin again I'd either drill earlier or burn it off post-drilling.

 

[Humble Village Farmer]

agree, way to expensive these mixes often with components in for no reason. the farmer needs to know exactly what each component is adding. for example what does black oats offer over normal farm saved oats, or vetch over farm saved peas in true monetry terms? (im sure they can give you a whole load of clever reasons that dont add up)

I agree with all of that except that the more species diverse your mixture, the better. I have tried black oats a couple of times and was dissappointed. That's a very good example of the the trade selling you something you already have. By the way you can grow vetch for seed so long as you pay the royalties.

 

[ajd132]

I agree with all of that except that the more species diverse your mixture, the better. I have tried black oats a couple of times and was dissappointed. That's a very good example of the the trade selling you something you already have. By the way you can grow vetch for seed so long as you pay the royalties.

You are right of course. Currently learning what works here. Mustard is a big no but always seems to be the first cover crop people grow.

 

[Humble Village Farmer]

You are right of course. Currently learning what works here. Mustard is a big no but always seems to be the first cover crop people grow.

I have bought a few bags of bird seed to mix in with my normal stuff just to add a bit more diversity. It's about £1 per kg and has got loads of small seeds like millet I think. It's bird seed and I am feeding to the birds.