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Regenerative Agriculture and Direct Drilling
Regen Ag Crops & Agronomy
Cover crop destruction
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<blockquote data-quote="Spud" data-source="post: 5913008" data-attributes="member: 78"><p>Not sure I agree with that, as someone who has grown cover crops for 8 years on everything from rank sand to brick clay (there's a kiln on the farm, 'nuff said!)</p><p>A common mix here is 50kg Oats, 2kg mustard and 3kg radish per hectare - sometimes we add 50kg of beans on one farm without beans in the rotation, where infertility and lack of OM is a problem.</p><p></p><p>The key things I've learned re covers are:</p><p></p><p>Dont get them too thick - let the weeds grow in the cover crop, not the one that you take to harvest. Allow the sun and wind to dry the soil or establishment of the next crop will be compromised</p><p>Mix deep and shallow rooting species</p><p>Drill into them with as little disturbance as possible to minimise weed growth</p><p>Be patient</p><p>Keep it cheap </p><p>Less = more as far as cultivation is concerned, but remove significant compaction where necessary pre sowing the cover, not the harvested crop.</p><p>Make them fit the situation, not the situation fit the cover - ie the harvested crop is still the most important one</p><p>When following winter barley, a stale seedbed and tidyup of volunteers pre sowing cover late August is worthwhile.</p><p></p><p>A few examples - dd cover after wheat on heavy land before direct drilling spring oats straight into the standing cover has worked very well indeed as far as weed control, margin and soil health are concerned</p><p> - dd cover pre potatoes, flailed off (mostly to allow the OM to fall through the destoner into the bed), cultivated about 8" deep into the stubble pre ploughing and ridging has reduced bedtilling significantly, retained friable rows which crack, slump and cap much less, reducing greens and increasing saleable yields, and easier harvesting.</p><p> - made soils more workable on farms that havent seen muck in 30yrs</p><p></p><p>A few observations of cover crops elsewhere:</p><p></p><p>One size does not fit all</p><p>Is there really a need for 10 different species in a mix? Adds more cost than value to me</p><p>Really thick cover crops create more problems than they solve</p><p></p><p>Things we need to learn yet (theres lots more than this!) - </p><p></p><p>Wether sheep grazing can be a valuable part of the process</p><p>Destruction - is more soil energy expended breaking down a green cover, or a burnt off one? Does flailing help in this regard?</p><p>Can I get more value from my covers with a different species of radish to reduce nematodes without breaking the bank?</p><p>Is Phacelia an alternative to say mustard in the current mix of Oats, radish and mustard?</p><p>Are Linseed, Vetch and Berseem clover (tried all 3 over the years) really doing much good, when they visibly seem to do very little?</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Spud, post: 5913008, member: 78"] Not sure I agree with that, as someone who has grown cover crops for 8 years on everything from rank sand to brick clay (there's a kiln on the farm, 'nuff said!) A common mix here is 50kg Oats, 2kg mustard and 3kg radish per hectare - sometimes we add 50kg of beans on one farm without beans in the rotation, where infertility and lack of OM is a problem. The key things I've learned re covers are: Dont get them too thick - let the weeds grow in the cover crop, not the one that you take to harvest. Allow the sun and wind to dry the soil or establishment of the next crop will be compromised Mix deep and shallow rooting species Drill into them with as little disturbance as possible to minimise weed growth Be patient Keep it cheap Less = more as far as cultivation is concerned, but remove significant compaction where necessary pre sowing the cover, not the harvested crop. Make them fit the situation, not the situation fit the cover - ie the harvested crop is still the most important one When following winter barley, a stale seedbed and tidyup of volunteers pre sowing cover late August is worthwhile. A few examples - dd cover after wheat on heavy land before direct drilling spring oats straight into the standing cover has worked very well indeed as far as weed control, margin and soil health are concerned - dd cover pre potatoes, flailed off (mostly to allow the OM to fall through the destoner into the bed), cultivated about 8" deep into the stubble pre ploughing and ridging has reduced bedtilling significantly, retained friable rows which crack, slump and cap much less, reducing greens and increasing saleable yields, and easier harvesting. - made soils more workable on farms that havent seen muck in 30yrs A few observations of cover crops elsewhere: One size does not fit all Is there really a need for 10 different species in a mix? Adds more cost than value to me Really thick cover crops create more problems than they solve Things we need to learn yet (theres lots more than this!) - Wether sheep grazing can be a valuable part of the process Destruction - is more soil energy expended breaking down a green cover, or a burnt off one? Does flailing help in this regard? Can I get more value from my covers with a different species of radish to reduce nematodes without breaking the bank? Is Phacelia an alternative to say mustard in the current mix of Oats, radish and mustard? Are Linseed, Vetch and Berseem clover (tried all 3 over the years) really doing much good, when they visibly seem to do very little? [/QUOTE]
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