Assorted Cover Crops

The Farmer plants cover crops into his wheat ground after the wheat is combined the end of July.

This year he planted both fields a mix of 4 different cover crops.  He has found a huge benefit to planting cover crops as they gather nitrogen from the soil, plant residue, and manure incorporated into the field and hold it for next year’s crops.  The benefits have added to our crop yields up to 2 years later as shown by our yield monitor maps over the years.

This year he used his seeder on the Salford for planting.   He seeded in a blend of oats, radishes (a type for cover crops, not as a food product), crimson clover, and red clover in what I’ll refer to the west field on August 11.  On August 14, he seeded the south field with a blend of radish, clover, turnips, and oats.  He used a purchased blend this year from a new supplier in one field and blended his own mix in the other field.  (He won’t pay the blending fee next year.)

We didn’t get any rain on them until August 23.  It was a dry August!

On Sept 7, we walked to check on the south field and it was coming along well.  Three and a half weeks since seeding.

 

And since we walked where Nina likes to run, she enjoyed our company but still was King of the Mountain!