Cover Cropping – Successes and Failures

• Don’t be afraid of failure – we can learn from our mistakes. Cover crops may not work every time but if you don’t try you can’t succeed!
• Good planning is important – get the right seed mix for your situation. Set the objectives you want to achieve with a cover crop, that will determine the species to include. Get advice.
• Treat the cover crop as a crop – don’t cut corners. It needs investment e.g. slug pellets to ensure success.
• Go for mixtures – the more species you put in, the more chances of success.
• Think year round, not just winter – Tom has had success with shorter-term catch crops. Use every opportunity to avoid bare ground, capture sunlight and build soil carbon.
• Climate change can bring weather challenges but the benefits offset the challenges – slugs can graze cover crops and leave emerging wheat. Carabid populations (which eat slugs) increase with the use of cover crops.
• Cover crops are a system enabler – seeds in the ground for living roots enable no-till and enable livestock integration.

Watch the video to find out more!