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Regenerative Agriculture and Direct Drilling
Regen Ag Crops & Agronomy
Termination timing
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<blockquote data-quote="Simon C" data-source="post: 7197" data-attributes="member: 319"><p>The advantage of legumes in the cover is that they are highly dependent on mycorrhizae and other fungi, and so while they are growing, they will be changing the soil biological profile to being more fungal. This will be a huge help to any following crop that is mycorrhizae dependent, ie. cereals.</p><p></p><p>I have also heard that if beans in a cover are burnt off early, they go black and therefore absorb the sunlight and help the soil warm up much quicker.</p><p></p><p>Actually, I think it is all about soil type when considering termination timing. All the photos of Frederic Thomas drilling into green covers are on light land, even sand, where any drill will work in the presence of reasonable amounts of moisture. The cover takes water out and by capillary action the whole soil profile has the same moisture content.</p><p></p><p>On heavy clay land you don't get capillary action, it can be dry on top and wet below, of wet and sticky on the top and dry below. So the only way to get the surface of heavy land dry enough to drill into is by the action of the sun and wind, which is prevented by a green cover on top. </p><p></p><p>Because of this I often curse having these covers when drilling in the Spring, the soil stays so wet underneath them, but I do believe they are essential if we are going to make any progress in building back organic matter. So my conclusion is that it is best to finish them off at some point in the winter, then the nutrients can start recycling and the soil can become exposed to dry out. The only down side is that it is not adhering to the doctrine of having something growing in the soil all year round, but I do wonder if that really matters when it is too cold for anything to be growing anyway. Plants aren't feeding the soil biology when they're not growing. </p><p></p><p>That's the theory, in practice it's been too wet to run the sprayer round here for three months, so what little covers I did get established are still there, but pretty small and thin, so probably won't be too much of a nuisance anyway.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Simon C, post: 7197, member: 319"] The advantage of legumes in the cover is that they are highly dependent on mycorrhizae and other fungi, and so while they are growing, they will be changing the soil biological profile to being more fungal. This will be a huge help to any following crop that is mycorrhizae dependent, ie. cereals. I have also heard that if beans in a cover are burnt off early, they go black and therefore absorb the sunlight and help the soil warm up much quicker. Actually, I think it is all about soil type when considering termination timing. All the photos of Frederic Thomas drilling into green covers are on light land, even sand, where any drill will work in the presence of reasonable amounts of moisture. The cover takes water out and by capillary action the whole soil profile has the same moisture content. On heavy clay land you don't get capillary action, it can be dry on top and wet below, of wet and sticky on the top and dry below. So the only way to get the surface of heavy land dry enough to drill into is by the action of the sun and wind, which is prevented by a green cover on top. Because of this I often curse having these covers when drilling in the Spring, the soil stays so wet underneath them, but I do believe they are essential if we are going to make any progress in building back organic matter. So my conclusion is that it is best to finish them off at some point in the winter, then the nutrients can start recycling and the soil can become exposed to dry out. The only down side is that it is not adhering to the doctrine of having something growing in the soil all year round, but I do wonder if that really matters when it is too cold for anything to be growing anyway. Plants aren't feeding the soil biology when they're not growing. That's the theory, in practice it's been too wet to run the sprayer round here for three months, so what little covers I did get established are still there, but pretty small and thin, so probably won't be too much of a nuisance anyway. [/QUOTE]
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Termination timing
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