The Benefits of Planting an Ultra-Diverse Cover Crop Mix This Spring
Even up in the northern states it is starting to look like spring as days get warmer, snow comes in lighter and hardy weeds sprout at every opportunity. The best time to plant an ultra diverse cover crop mix is approaching, so, let’s dive into the benefits of planting a super diverse cover crop in late spring.
Why plant an ultra diverse mix?
Let’s be real, planting an ultra diverse mix can make management more complicated in certain scenarios, so, why go through the hassle? For one, ultra diverse mixes are incredibly versatile and they can be tailored to your unique goals whether that’s feeding livestock, preventing erosion or interseeding corn. Just as you want to be sure your kids are getting a diverse diet, the same goes for your soil microbes.
Increase Nutrient Cycling with Different Plant Families
Feeding soil microbiology a diverse diet of plant root exudates helps to build a thriving soil sociobiome, one where soil biology can supply crops with the nutrients and minerals they need to combat disease and pests in exchange for liquid carbon. Dr. Christine Jones recommends adding at least four different plant families, and ideally six or more, to your cover crop mix to ensure you’re introducing an abundance of diversity and building that resilient soil microbiome.
We recently added a feature to our SmartMix calculator that allows you to view plant families as you’re building your mix to ensure you’re crafting for maximum diversity. Check out this short video to learn about this new feature in SmartMix.
Start with the Seed
Not only are the plants from different families creating unique relationships with microbiology in the soil, the seeds themselves are also introducing that additional diversity. We’re finding out that seeds have their own microbiome with billions of organisms and it is hypothesized that between different plant families there are great differences in the makeup of these microbial communities. John Kempf shares a summary of this concept and explains why we should be thinking of seeds as “vectors of microbial communities.”
Starting with the right seed is important, that’s why our team at Green Cover is committed to working with regenerative farmers to grow the cover crop seed we sell. Learn more about how our seed is produced in this webinar series.
Moisture Usage
Gabe Brown recently came onto the Green Cover Podcast and he described some of the very first cover crop trials he ever did back in 2006, which also happened to be an extremely dry year in the Bismark area. Side by side they planted strips of monoculture species then strips of all species mixed together and the results were striking. In a summer with less than one inch of precipitation the cover crop mix far outperformed the monocultures with more than double the amount of biomass produced.
The secret?
- In a diverse mix some plants will have fibrous root systems while others might have taproots that go deep into the soil profile. This diversity allows for moisture to be accessed at varying soil depths
- Mycorrhizal fungi act as extensions of plant roots to greatly increase water uptake.
- Different plant canopies and different leaf shapes. In a system that was created to be efficient, one plant is transpiring and the other plant next to it is actually able to take that moisture in.
- Plants and microbiology work together to cycle the nutrients and minerals necessary to grow healthy and remain resilient in the face of extreme growing conditions.
With low moisture affecting large portions of the country right now this is a great way to manage moisture as efficiently as possible, while still getting the benefits of a diverse cover crop. As we know, a fallow period isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. Watch our past webinar with Nicole Masters to learn more about the Fallow Fallacy.
Get the Best Bang For Your Buck
When building your cover crop mix you have your grasses (Poaceae) and your legumes (Fabaceae) that make up the bulk of your mix and then your brassicas (Brassicaceae) and broadleaves typically make up a smaller percentage. The broadleaf group is one of the best to pull from when looking to introduce different plant families and you really don’t need to spend a lot to get these benefits of microbial diversity.
Flax, for example, is the only cover crop from the Linaceae family and at just a few dollars per acre you can add a meaningful rate to your mix. Flax is also one of the best hosts for mycorrhizal fungi, making it a worthwhile addition to almost any cover crop mix.
Buckwheat, an obvious fan favorite, is from the Polygonaceae family and it’s known as a phosphorus scavenger and excellent pollinator.
Then there’s sunflower and safflower, both from the Asteraceae family with deep taproots. Both are warm season species with a good tolerance for cooler temperatures so they really fill the niche during those transitionary periods. Both relatively cheap seed and a little goes a long way.
Phacelia is from the Borginaceae and while it’s a more expensive seed per pound, it’s an excellent pollinator plant and you don’t need much to make a difference in a mix.
Spring Spruce Up
As we move into the warmer months, planting an ultra-diverse mix of warm and cool season species makes a lot of sense. The cool season species will still be able to enjoy the cooler nights and fluctuating daytime temperatures, while the warm season species start to show themselves and really flourish when things heat up.
In most places across the country late April through late May is a perfect time to plant a warm and cool season mix. The farther north you are the later you can go and for our friends farther south, planting an ultra diverse mix might work best in early April.
Whether your goal is to increase nutrient cycle, graze livestock or prevent erosion, our team can help you put together the right mix for your goals! Give us a call today at 402-469-6784 or check out our SmartMix Calculator to start building your own ultra diverse mix.
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