Cover Crops
Product | Category | Type | Details | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Oil Seed Radish | Cool Season Broadleaf, Cover Crops | Fall | Upright and spreading plant | High water use and poor salinity tolerance | Very good nitrogen scavenger | Can aid in reducing compaction | Does not form arbuscular mycorrhizal associations |
Turnips | Cool Season Broadleaf, Cover Crops | Fall | Upright and spreading plant | High water use and poor salinity tolerance | Good at scavenging nitrogen | Good forage production | Does not form arbuscular mycorrhizal associations |
Dwarf Essex Rape | Cool Season Broadleaf, Cover Crops | Fall | Belongs to the cabbage family | High protein and high energy level feed | Very cold, heat and drought tolerant | Valuable feed source when other crops are in a summer slump | Good nutrient scavenger |
Hybrid Forage Brassicas | Cool Season Broadleaf, Cover Crops | Fall | High protein and high energy level feed | Usually very cold, heat, and drought tolerant | Bred specifically for forage production and grazing | Very good regrowth after grazing | Very good RFV |
Ethiopian Cabbage | Cool Season Broadleaf, Cover Crops | Fall | Very good biofumigant | Very fast growing | Generally flowers in 60 days | Effective taproot | Up to 5,000 lb. DM/acre |
Austrian Winter Peas | Cool Season Legume, Cover Crops | Winter | Upright plant | Low water use | Poor salinity tolerance | Flowers attract pollinators | Forms arbuscular mycorrhizal associations |
Common Vetch | Cool Season Legume, Cover Crops | Winter | Annual or biennial | Prostrate plant | Low to medium water use and poor salinity tolerance | Forms arbuscular mycorrhizal associations | Flowers attract pollinators |
Hairy Vetch | Cool Season Legume, Cover Crops | Winter | Annual or biennial | Prostrate plant | Low to medium water use and poor salinity tolerance | Forms arbuscular mycorrhizal associations | Flowers attract pollinators |
Lupins | Cool Season Legume, Cover Crops | Winter | Upright plant | Low water use | Prefers acid soils | Flowers attract pollinators | Does not form arbuscular mycorrhizal associations |
Winter Barley | Cool Season Grass, Cover Crops | Winter | Upright plant | Low water use and good salinity tolerance | Benefits from arbuscular mycorrhizal associations | Very good forage production | Very good nitrogen scavenger |
Winter Triticale | Cool Season Grass, Cover Crops | Winter | Upright plant | High water use and good salinity tolerance | Excellent regrowth | Very good forage quality and quantity | Will form arbuscular mycorrhizal associations |
Winter Oats | Cool Season Grass, Cover Crops | Winter | Walken oats have enough cold tolerance to survive our winters for the last 6 years | Very good early and late forage production | Medium water use and fair salinity tolerance | Very good nitrogen scavenger | Will form arbuscular mycorrhizal associations |
Cereal Rye | Cool Season Grass, Cover Crops | Winter | Upright plant | High water use and good salinity tolerance | Will form arbuscular mycorrhizal associations | Very good nitrogen scavenger | Very good residue builder |
Canola | Cool Season Broadleaf, Cover Crops | Winter | Annual and biennial | Upright and spreading plant | Medium water use and good salinity tolerance | Very good at scavenging nitrogen and other nutrients from the soil | Flowers attract pollinators, and it does not form arbuscular mycorrhizal associations |
Red Clover | Cover Crops, Perennial | Legume, Perennial | Biennial or short lived perennial | Upright plant | Medium water use and poor salinity tolerance | Forms arbuscular mycorrhizal associations | Flowers attract pollinators |
Crimson Clover | Cover Crops, Perennial | Legume, Perennial | Annual or biennial | Upright plant | Thrives well on both well-drained sandy soils and clay type soils | Does not do well in extreme cold or heat | Good quick producer of nitrogen |
White Clover | Cover Crops, Perennial | Legume, Perennial | Upright plant | Medium water use and poor salinity tolerance | Forms arbuscular mycorrhizal associations | Flowers attract pollinators | |
Yellow Sweet Clover | Cover Crops, Perennial | Legume, Perennial | Annual/biennial | Upright plant | Moderate water use and fair salinity tolerance | Forms arbuscular mycorrhizal associations | Flowers attract pollinators |
Chicory | Cover Crops, Perennial, Warm Season Broadleaf | Broadleaf, Perennial | Warm season broadleaf | Perennial | Upright and spreading plant (vine) | Will form arbuscular mycorrhizal associations | Attracts Pollinators it does not form arbuscular mycorrhizal associations |
Spring Barley | Cool Season Grass, Cover Crops | Spring | Upright plant | Low water use and good salinity tolerance | Benefits from arbuscular mycorrhizal association | Very good forage production | Very good nitrogen scavenger |
Black Oats | Cool Season Grass, Cover Crops | Spring | Winter cereal for Zone 8 and warmer | Very fibrous root mass and tillers well | Very good biomass production | Works as a spring planted crop in colder climates | Very durable residue when it reaches maturity |
Spring Oats | Cool Season Grass, Cover Crops | Spring | Upright plant | Medium water use and fair salinity tolerance | Will form arbuscular mycorrhizal associations | Very good nitrogen scavenger | Very good forage quality |
Safflower | Cover Crops, Warm Season Broadleaf | Spring | Upright plant | High water use and good salinity tolerance | Deep rooting plant that can aid in reducing soil compaction | Effective at reclaiming mobile nutrients deep in the soil profile | Will form arbuscular mycorrhizal associations and flowers attract pollinators |
Lentils | Cool Season Legume, Cover Crops | Spring | Upright and spreading plant | Low water use | Poor salinity tolerance | Forms arbuscular mycorrhizal associations | Self pollinated, but flowers may attract pollinators |
Yellow Field Peas | Cool Season Legume, Cover Crops | Spring | Upright plant | Low water use | Poor salinity tolerance | Flowers attract pollinators | Forms arbuscular mycorrhizal associations |
Spring Forage Peas | Cool Season Legume, Cover Crops | Spring | Upright plant | Low water use | Poor salinity tolerance | Flowers attract pollinators | Forms arbuscular mycorrhizal associations |
AC Greenfix (chickling vetch) | Cool Season Legume, Cover Crops | Spring | Very good nitrogen producer | Good forage production | Very efficient with moisture | Short season plant, can produce up to 134# at 72 days of growth | |
Sunn Hemp | Cover Crops, Warm Season Legume | Summer | Upright plant | Tolerates poor, sandy, droughty soils and requires good drainage | Has a strong taproot with many well-developed lateral roots | Very good nitrogen producer | Can produce 6-7 tons dry matter per acre |
Laredo Soybeans | Cover Crops, Warm Season Legume | Summer | Upright and spreading plant | Medium water use | Black seeded, pure forage soybean | Self pollinated, but flowers may attract pollinators | Forms arbuscular mycorrhizal associations |
Cowpeas | Cover Crops, Warm Season Legume | Summer | Upright and spreading plant (vine) | Low water use | Poor salinity tolerance | Flowers attract pollinators | Forms arbuscular mycorrhizal associations |
Sunflowers | Cover Crops, Warm Season Broadleaf | Summer | Upright plant | High water use and fair salinity tolerance | Deep rooting plant that can aid in reducing soil compaction | Effective at reclaiming mobile nutrients deep in the soil profile | Will form arbuscular mycorrhizal associations and flowers attract pollinators |
Sorghum Sudangrass | Cover Crops, Warm Season Grass | Summer | Upright plant | Medium water use | Fair salinity tolerance | Benefits from arbuscular mycorrhizal associations | Self pollinated by the wind |
Pearl Millet | Cover Crops, Warm Season Grass | Summer | Upright plant | Low water use | Good protein content | Self pollinated by the wind | Will form arbuscular mycorrhizal associations |
Guar | Cover Crops, Warm Season Legume | Summer | Very good heat tolerance and drought tolerance | 90-120 day maturity | Good salinity tolerance | Forms arbuscular mycorrhizal associations | |
German “R” Millet | Cover Crops, Warm Season Grass | Summer | Annual | Upright plant type | Low water use | Poor salinity tolerance | Forms arbuscular mycorrhizal associations |
Subterranean Clover | Cover Crops, Warm Season Legume | Fall | Reseeding cool season annual | Excellent weed and erosion suppressor | Prostrate very dense plant growth | Forms seed pods at, or below ground level | |
Annual Ryegrass | Cool Season Grass, Cover Crops | Fall | Annual or perennial types | Medium water use | Fair salinity tolerance | Will form arbuscular mycorrhizal associations | Very good nitrogen scavenger |
Phacelia | Cool Season Broadleaf, Cover Crops | Fall | Upright plant | Low water use and low salinity tolerance | Very fibrous roots and good nitrogen catch crop | Will form arbuscular mycorrhizal associations | Attracts beneficial insects |
Buckwheat | Cool Season Broadleaf, Cover Crops | Fall | Upright plant | Medium water use and poor salinity tolerance | Enhances soil P availability | Does not form arbuscular mycorrhizal associations | Attracts pollinators very well |
Perennial | Perennial | ||||||
Warm Season Legume | |||||||
Cool Season Grass | Spring |