United States-based cover crop pioneer Steve Groff had a simple message for South East growers recently – treat cover crops like cash crops.
On a tour through southern Australia last month with AGF Seeds, Mr Groff said similar management was needed to grow radish, millet and other cover crops as cereals and pulses, including fertiliser and insect control.
“It (cover crops) can make a good farmer better, but a bad farmer worse,” he said.
Mr Groff who has been growing cover crops for more than 20 years developed tillage radish through a business he co-founded called Cover Crop Solutions.
Tillage radish has been available in Australia since late 2014 through AGF Seeds and local suppliers. It reaches maturity in 10-12 weeks. Its development involved working closely with the University of Maryland and undertaking on-farm trials.
Mr Groff said farmers needed to experiment on their own farms with no one system fitting all.
“The big picture is increasing soil health and organic matter and reducing compaction, but it will look different for different people with some even looking for disease control,” he said.
Mr Groff said it had taken time for widespread adoption but now up to half of farmers in the Pennsylvania area were growing cover crops – either as single species or a mix of varieties.
He said in low summer rainfall regions it was not always feasible, but it was important farmers were prepared for rainfall events.
Cadgee farmer Nick Wight, Strathyre Props, conducted a green manure trial in a paddock that had struggled to grow a consistent crop in the past six years, with variable plant height to patchy growth and germination.
He hopes it will increase the yield of his winter crop, which will be oat and ryegrass hay.
In late January the Mackillop Farm Management Group member, with advice from Elders Naracoorte agronomist Jason McClure, planted eight trial plots each 10 metres wide (the width of a seeder) and 500m long with sorghum, maize, Summer Max, lunch radish, tillage radish, canola, millet and Mace wheat.
Due to low summer rainfall the plots received only about 100 millimetres – mostly from irrigation.
Late last month they were disced into the soil.
Mr Wight said the millet and two radish varieties had the best early establishment, but the sorghum and maize grew the most biomass – up to a metre high. “A lot of people talk of major benefits so it will be interesting to see any difference in the next two to three years,” he said.