Buckwheat & Specialty Crop Seed

Buckwheat is made for short windows. It's a fast, short-season summer cover crop that flowers within a few weeks and matures in about 10 to 12 weeks. A dense stand smothers mid-summer weeds, and its dense root system conditions the soil for the next crop. It needs warm soil, around 21°C or above, and reliable moisture, so in WA it suits irrigated paddocks or areas with 550 mm or more of rainfall. Sow at 50 kg/ha.

No. Buckwheat is a broadleaf plant, not a cereal grain, even though its seed is used for flour and many of the same purposes as cereal grain. It's a warm-season summer annual, growing in the hottest part of the year, unlike cool-season crops such as oats. That makes it a simple way to add a different plant type to a cereal-heavy rotation. We supply it as a summer cover crop and soil conditioner ahead of the next autumn-sown crop.

We recommend 50 kg/ha, sown about 2.5 cm deep; don't plant deeper. If drilling, buckwheat does best in narrow rows. For cover crop use you can also broadcast it and rake or harrow it in, which suits smaller areas. In warm, moist soil it germinates within a few days. Have weeds under control before sowing, because weed control options are limited once the crop is up, and keep fertiliser modest.

Sow in late spring or summer once the soil is around 21°C or warmer and there's good moisture. Don't sow it in autumn: it grows very little as the weather cools and is killed by the first light frost. Sown in early summer it matures in about 11 to 12 weeks, and in late summer in about 10 weeks. With irrigation or good summer moisture, that lets it fit between a winter crop or pasture and the next autumn sowing.

Yes, it's one of its main strengths. Buckwheat flowers for a long period, around 6 to 8 weeks, and has long been popular with beekeepers. Its abundant white flowers also draw in beneficial insects such as hoverflies, predatory wasps and lady beetles, which help keep aphids and mites in check. Because it grows quickly without crowding out other species, it's a good companion in a cover crop mix, and it's one of the species in our Cover Crop Plus Summer Mix.

Terminate it within about 7 to 10 days of flowering starting, before the seed matures. Buckwheat is easily killed by mowing, rolling or tilling. If some plants do set seed, it's rarely a lasting problem. Buckwheat doesn't have hard seed, so you'll normally get just one flush of volunteer plants, which are easily controlled with tillage, mowing or herbicide. Some growers even welcome that flush as extra ground cover.

Buckwheat stands out here. It appears to be uniquely good at making soil phosphorus more available to the following crop: its roots release mild acids that free up nutrients, and it extracts phosphorus better than most grain-type cover crops. It doesn't add phosphorus, though; it recycles what's already in the soil. When the crop is terminated and breaks down, those nutrients return to the surface soil, where the next crop can use them.

We supply buckwheat as a cover crop, not a grazing crop, and it's best treated that way. Buckwheat contains fagopyrin, which can cause photosensitisation. Levels are higher in the green plant than in the grain, so ruminants grazing the crop are more at risk, especially light-skinned animals. Grain can be fed in limited amounts: at 30% or more of the ration it can cause photosensitivity in light-skinned pigs and cattle. Buckwheat hay is also low in protein for cattle. Talk to your vet or nutritionist first.

On sand, yes; on alkaline soil, less well. Buckwheat suits sands through to loams and performs best on neutral to slightly acidic soils. It doesn't grow as well on alkaline soils and struggles on heavy, wet ground. It's a good choice for lower-fertility paddocks, as its fertility needs are modest; too much nitrogen makes it grow rank and fall over. Make sure there's enough moisture at sowing, and where rainfall is under 550 mm, plan on irrigation or stored soil moisture.

No, buckwheat is sometimes wrongly called drought tolerant. It wilts readily on hot, dry afternoons and needs enough moisture to establish and keep growing, so a crop sown into dry soil will struggle. Plan it for paddocks with 550 mm or more of rainfall, irrigation, or good stored moisture after summer rain. If you want more heat and drought resilience, Buff Cowpea is more drought tolerant, though it still needs 500 mm or more of rainfall or irrigation.