Legume Plowdown - (or Soil Health 101)

[craig]

Idea I have looked at. Intercrop sweetclover with spring cereal in year 1 and then in year 2 mow down sweetclover before seed set. Jill Clapperton has said that the residue breaks down very quickly due to the large amounts of N. My plan would be to mow high enough to leave stalks for snow catching. I would preseed burn early August for any regrowth and then plant winter wheat. A select variety would hopefully be able to use the slower release nitrogen for added protein( which you get paid for)Not sure if the sweet clover residue would have effect on winter wheat.

[lakenheath]

Interesting. Be careful with inter-cropping clover. During harvest it can put a strong smell on your wheat. Also, it can (if it catches strong) compete very aggressively with the wheat crop. In year 2 watch for excess moisture uptake. The clover will have a developed root system with a stong tap root. May want to burn off and mow down early.

[Vader]

I have alfalfa and clover in right now but am planning on green peas with cereal intercrop for this year. I had not thought to cut back so far on the peas. I thought maybe 2 bushels per acre and a bushel of oats.

Certainly the biggest hazard is the moisture used by alfalfa and clover. Could backfire on certain soil types with marginal moisture.

To properly understand the whole process I really think you need to listen to the soil foodweb CD.

[Vader]

wedino, I spoke to Martin Entz at the University of Manitoba about green manure cover crops. He tells me that producers are having success with rolling down their cover crops to "terminate" them. You have to wait until they have bloomed otherwise they will just shoot up new growth.

Go to google and type in "rolling rye".