Also known as green manure, cover crops are essentially a ground cover used for the benefit of the soil rather than crop yield. Typically grasses or legumes, they are seeded beneath cash crops or directly after a cash crop harvest and grown in the off-season to prepare land for incoming cash crops by essentially becoming a living mulch layer. Cover crops can become a valuable component of a farm’s nutrient management plan.
Benefits:
• Suppresses weed growth
• Increases infiltration
• Prevents soil erosion
• Improves soil fertility and quality
• Reduces soil compaction
• Controls disease by reducing harmful bacteria and fungi in soil
• Helps control pests
• Leads to cleaner runoff
• Contributes to higher yields
• Promotes biodiversity