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An introduction to cover cropping
Tim Martyn
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`
Freshwater eutrophic
@ only 35 g P per litre
OR
35 millionths of a gram
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160m3 ha 10m3 ha 433m3 ha 381m3 ha
SS 213kg ha 9kg ha 719kg ha 1551kg ha PP 859g ha 37g ha 3029g ha 5762g ha
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Catch and Cover Crops
• An extra crop between two of the main crops in a rotation
• Soil protection (min- or no-till drills)
• Fertility building
• Supplementary stock feed
• Replacement of main crops that have failed
• Livestock for grazing or folding
• Sow early for improved establishment/effect
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Pros
• Building soil organic matter (SOM) – green manure, particularly on sandy soils
• Reducing suspended solids in runoff – retaining soil
• Nitrate scavenging – early est. best
• Improving soil structure
• Aeration/Drainage
• SOM & soil structure increases water retention
• Weed suppression
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Cons
• Reliability of establishment – early establishment best
• Appropriate soil conditions for establishment – not usually suited to heavy or dry land
• Depletion of soil water in spring
• Clean land to minimise weed control problems
• Fertilise - Uptake of soil plant available nutrient
• Possible delays in seedbed preparation
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Carbon:Nitrogen Ratio
• Bacterial biomass has a C:N ratio of 6:1 • Well decomposed humus between 10 and 12:1 • Other organic remains have much more C • Breakdown of material having wide C:N ratio, such as
cereal straw (140:1), is slow unless N is readily available
• Soil bacteria uses ‘plant available N’ (mineral or inorganic N) in the decomposition process
• N used (immobilised) becomes organic N, mostly unavailable to the plant. However, it can be made ‘plant available’ at a later date by a process called mineralisation.
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Pests and Diseases
• Must not harbour pests or diseases of any main crop in the rotation, e.g. rape is highly susceptible to clubroot
• Do not use brassica cover crops in rotation with beet
• Rye, IRG or Westerwold preferred in rotations including cauliflower, swedes or OSR
• Green bridge if grasses present – aphids and cereal fungal diseases
• Slugs
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Source: Nickersons
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Cover Crop Seed Costs
Crop £/kg Seed rate, kg/ha Seed cost, £/ha
Forage rape (treated) £5.75 10 £58
Mustard £3.00 20 £60
Phacelia £7.00 10 £70
Westerwolds £2.00 35 £70
Red clover £6.60 15 £99
Forage rye £0.60 180 £108
Buckwheat £3.00 75 £225
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Summary
• Remove compaction – avoid soil destabilisation
• Early establishment following harvest when soil temp. higher, prior to winter, to maximise root and canopy growth
• Good seed to soil contact imperative together with minimal soil movement
• Avoid smearing if slot seeding – waterlogged slot
• Care required with drill selection
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Cover and Catch Crops
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Crop Options
• IRG or rape on a scarified corn stubble following harvest, ploughed in, grazed or sprayed off then strip-tillage
• Rye/IRG/Westerwolds RG establish best when sown in early autumn
• White or Ethiopian mustard between harvest and drilling
• Oilseed radish
• Legumes and Phacelia
• Mixtures/undersowing – consider following crops
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Further options
• Buckwheat - Fast establishing producing a thick bushy plant which sheds seed in the Autumn. Allelopathic effects?
• Phacelia – an extremely fast growing crop. It’s dense growth habit smothers out most weed competition. Care must be taken to destroy the crop as Phacelia easily reseeds itself.
• Hybrid Forage Brassicas – a Forage Rape x Kale cross that is quicker growing than Kale and more winter hardy than Forage Rape. Forage Brassicas are ideal for late sowings.
• Yellow Sweet Clover - a biennial plant which can last for several years due to it’s ability to regenerate itself through shedding seed. Yellow sweet Clover has a sweet smell and produces large amounts of nectar making it highly attractive to insects which in turn attract birds. Best sown with an annual companion crop to produce a cover in first year.
• Texsel Greens – an easy to establish, quick growing crop which is frost hardy and ideal for suppressing any weeds
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Nitrogen Fixing and Accumulating
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Yield t dm / ha Legume % N in plant kg / ha N fixed kg / ha White clover/grass 6.04 67 117 248 Red clover/grass 9.46 79 112 343 Lucerne/grass 7.53 74 115 320 Beans 3.80 100% 130 275 Vetches 7.00 100% 150 160
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Nitrogen Scavenging & Accumulating
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Nitrogen Scavenging
• Work by IGER found growth over-winter of rye to be generally better than Westerwolds or IRG
• Consequentially higher herbage N recovery
• Rye has greater frost tolerance (leaf proteins)
• Rye can be established later in autumn but early drilling gives better establishment (regional)
• Establishes better in free-draining (aerobic) soils
• Faster earlier est. means higher LAI
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Source: Nickersons
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Nematode Reduction
• Nematode reduction – oilseed radish and mustards
• Harvest date and the time available to sow the cover crop
• Weather – most cover crops are best sown in July and August and will need moisture to germinate
• Soil type (determine the sowing rate)
• Ability to mow and incorporate the cover crop in late autumn
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Source: Nickersons
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Biofumigation
• Plant breakdown releases chemical substances known as Isothiocyanates (ITC): Ethiopian and white mustards, oilseed radish
• Prussic acid production : Sudan grass
• Used to control, Fusarium, Pythium, Rhizoctonia fungal diseases and soil borne insects.
• Likely to reduce beneficial mycorrhizal soil fungi
• Works well on light textured, low organic matter soils.
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Benefits of Biofumigation Crops
• Natural Control of soil borne pests but also beneficial ones too
• Traps and re-cycles nitrogen via the plant
• Improves soil structure by increasing organic matter
• Improved soil water retention
• Reduces soil erosion
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Yield of grain (t/ha, 15% moisture) of
wheat grown with and without N, either conventionally or in a clover understorey
Treatment 1995 1996 1997 Bi-cropped, no input 1.59 1.41 1.56 Bi-cropped, low input 3.11 2.4 2.57 Conventional, moderate input 8.63 8.19 6.0 Conventional, high input 10.09 9.76 7.34
Source: Burke et al
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Bi-cropping - Pros
• Permanent understorey of a companion crop, i.e. white clover.
• Crop drilled using a Hunter stripseeder (strip-till drill)
• White clover may help to interrupt spread of splash borne fungal disease spores
• Non-inversion of soil promotes beneficial invertebrates and mycorrhizal fungi
• Uniform green canopy may reduce aphid alighting (
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Bi-cropping - Cons
• Competition for moisture, sunlight and nutrient by companion crop
• Restricts choice of herbicide a.i.
• Can harbour pests (slugs, etc) but also provides cover for beneficial predators (ground beetles) – balance required
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Summary
• Soil protection – conservation tillage
• Nitrogen fixer or scavenger
• Pest reduction
• Consider following crop when selecting CC
• Bi-cropping
• Environmental benefits beyond reducing DWPA – wildlife