Cover Crop Seed Mixes

It depends on when the ground would otherwise sit bare. Cover Crop Plus Winter Mix is sown in autumn: 13 species including cereals, ryegrasses, peas, vetch, clovers, chicory, forage brassica and tillage radish, at 25–35 kg/ha. Cover Crop Plus Summer Mix is sown in spring: 7 heat and drought tolerant species including cowpeas, millet, sunflowers and buckwheat, at 15–20 kg/ha. Both suit 350 mm or more of rainfall, soil pH (CaCl2) of 5 and above, and light sands through to heavy soils.

A cover crop with deep taproots can help open up compacted layers. Both our Cover Crop Plus mixes include tillage radish, whose large taproot breaks into compaction layers and brings nutrients back up from deeper in the profile as it decomposes. Chicory adds a very deep taproot that the roots of other species can follow. The winter mix also includes Amass Italian ryegrass, whose deep roots give the other species a path to nutrients and moisture where compaction is a problem.

Get living cover back on the ground quickly and keep it there. DPIRD recommends more than 50% ground cover to reduce wind speed at soil level, and more than 70% where water erosion is also a risk. Cover Crop Plus Winter Mix, sown in autumn, includes fast-establishing cereal rye and oats for early biomass, and grows on light sands through to heavy soils. Once established, mulching it or leaving it to stand keeps a protective blanket over the soil instead of bare ground.

Yes. Both Cover Crop Plus mixes can be grazed once plants are anchored and don't pull out when stock bite them. Rotate or strip graze so the crop can recover. Introduce stock gradually and offer other feed, as the mixes contain forage brassica: for Winfred, intake should stay under 33% of the diet for dairy cows and 70% for beef cattle. Young cereals can build up nitrates, especially after frost or in hot, dry spells, so watch stock closely and ask your vet if unsure.

Yes, for early production, but only in the right paddock. Dry sow Cover Crop Plus Winter Mix only where the paddock is clean of weeds and competitive grasses, has no history of problem weeds, and you've weighed up the risk of a false break. That risk is real: soft-seeded species such as crimson clover can germinate on a false break and then struggle if follow-up rain doesn't come. If weeds are likely, wait for the break, control the first flush, then sow into moisture.

It can, so timing the finish matters. In GRDC-funded research, winter cover crops reduced the soil water and mineral nitrogen left for the following crop by 17% and 15% respectively, and legume-based covers conserved moisture better than brassica-heavy ones. Finishing the cover crop earlier in spring leaves more moisture behind, and mulching or rolling it leaves residue on the surface to cut evaporation. Our Cover Crop Plus mixes carry several nitrogen-fixing legumes, which helps on the nitrogen side.

A dense cover crop helps suppress weeds, but it works best in a paddock that starts clean. Spray out existing weeds before sowing, and avoid paddocks with a history of problem weeds. Higher sowing rates increase competition between plants and against weeds, reducing the weed burden and the need for early herbicide. In Cover Crop Plus Summer Mix, buckwheat's rapid, dense growth chokes out weeds, and tillage radish closes its canopy quickly to shade them out.

Sow Cover Crop Plus Summer Mix in spring, once soils have warmed and there's enough moisture to carry it, whether from stored soil water, summer rain or irrigation. Several species need warm soil: sunflowers want soil above 14°C, and buckwheat needs about 21°C to germinate. Buckwheat is quickly killed by frost, so don't leave sowing until autumn. Sow at 15–20 kg/ha into a clean seedbed with good seed-to-soil contact, and fertilise to encourage establishment.

Yes, if the mix contains legumes. Cover Crop Plus Winter Mix includes field peas, common vetch, lucerne, sub clover, and arrowleaf and crimson clovers, while the summer mix includes cowpeas, and all of these fix nitrogen. The other species help hold on to nitrogen too. Cereal rye's fibrous roots absorb unused nitrogen in the soil, and tillage radish draws nutrients up from deeper in the profile and returns them to the surface as it breaks down.

Pick the finish that suits what comes next. Both Cover Crop Plus mixes can be grazed, mulched or left to stand. Mulching keeps the soil covered and adds organic matter and carbon as the residue breaks down, while grazing turns the crop into feed. If a crop or pasture follows, finish early enough to save soil moisture for it. If you plan to spray it out, talk to your agronomist about herbicide choice for the species in the mix.