Cover crops are a really hot topic among producers right now. So, what is a cover crop exactly? Well, simply put, a cover crop is a crop that is grown to benefit the soil and/or other crops in a number of ways. From the agronomy side of things, cover crop benefits include: reduced soil erosion, improved soil quality, reduced weed pressure, reduced insect and other pest problems. Cover crops are grown during or between primary cropping seasons. They are versatile and easily adapted to conventional, low-input and organic field crop ecosystems. Cover crops are also beneficial from the livestock side of things as well. They can be grazed, hayed, or made into silage. There are many cover crop species including millets, lentils, legumes, field peas, turnips, sorghum and sorghum-sudan, annual ryegrass, hairy vetch, and even radishes. Cereal grains such as oats, wheat, triticale, and rye can also be used.
So, are you interested in cover crops or do you already grow them? The beauty of cover crops is that you don't require any more land to grow them. You can utilize the resources you already have. With these things in mind, I open up the forum for comments and questions.
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I tried a cover crop last spring using sweet clover, it failed on me. I found out I should have seeded it with my oats and utilized it this spring.
ReplyDeleteMy Dad planted sweet clover 20 years ago and we plowed it down after it got up 3-4 feet and we had residual weed control for years after that.
I would like to learn more about the benefits of the different cover crops. My interest right now is with radishes, I have read good things about them.
I have been using cover crops for the last four years and they have been working wonderful. We have had excellent fall grazing, upwards of 3-4 ton of dry matter. Forage quality has been great too. This is a no brainer idea if you are a no till person that has livestock. It is an extremely cheap way to feed cows, also can help reduce the stress on your pastures late in the fall. I have been using turnips, radishes, rape, and a legume. Talk with your NRCS they can help you out with what you need to know.
ReplyDeleteThere have been some questions on grazing radishes. There is not a lot of data out there because there has really not been any research done on grazing radishes. However, I was able to find out a few things by talking with some colleagues and doing a little investigating on my own. Radishes belong to the same family (Brassicas) as canola, rapeseed, turnips, and kale, so there are going to be glucosinolates in them. At high levels these compounds can cause goiter and other thyroid problems. Ruminant microbe populations usually handle most of this problem prior to digestion but you can still have some issues at high levels. Forage Brassicas are high yielding, high quality and fast growing and they also have a good amount of protein (10%-14%) and are fairly digestible (80%-85% TDN). Brassica crops can also cause other animal health disorders if not grazed properly. The main disorders are bloat, atypical pneumonia, nitrate poisoning, hemolytic anemia (mainly with kale), hypothyroidism, and polioencephalomalcia. The disorders can be avoided by the following management practices:
ReplyDelete1. Livestock should not be hungry when put on lush forage grazing for the first time so they do not gorge themselves. Introduce grazing animals to Brassica pastures slowly, over a 10 day period. Avoid abrupt changes from dry summer pastures to lush Brassica pastures
2. Brassica crops should not constitute more than 75 percent of the animal's diet. Supplement with dry hay if continually grazing Brassicas or allow grazing animals to access grass pastures while grazing Brassicas.
3. Grazing can begin when the forage is about 12 inches tall (70 to 90 days after planting).
One thing I should add that I forgot to mention with Brassicas is that the animal health issues associated with Brassicas is extremely rare, but can still occur. One other thing to think about is that there can be a chocking hazzard with some of the Brassicas, like turnips, for livestock.
ReplyDeleteWe did some feed analysis on a mixture of turnip, radish, rape and common vetch. CP 18% TDN 77% RFV 311 RFQ 357. Another sample was CP 22.1% TDN 81.1 RFV 294 RFQ 385. These were the top and the bulb, it was cut off at ground level. Have never heard of any issues with grazing cover crops. Most of the time there is enough dry matter in the fields from wheat stubble or grass along the fence lines. It is always best to strip graze these, for max production. Also if you cattle have never seen these before they will tend to trample a lot.
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