Farmers are set to benefit from the UK’s first independent guide to selecting, establishing and terminating cover crops.

Co-designed by farmers with the help of the Yorkshire Agricultural Society’s Farmer Scientist Network, it gives farmers the most up-to-date information and advice on cover crop varieties and their management.

Cover crops offer many benefits such as adding soil organic matter and nutrients, reducing soil erosion and leaching along with mitigating pest and disease outbreaks. This, in turn, can boost harvests, make cost savings for the farm and deliver for the wider environment.

See also: Herbal leys help halve nitrogen fertiliser use for wheat

Cover crops can also help growers to qualify for additional revenue under the government’s new agri-environment schemes.

However, Dr Dave George, chairman of the Farmer Scientist Network at the Yorkshire Agricultural Society and precision agronomist at Newcastle University, says poor decisions, such as using the wrong species, can result in failed crops.

Failed crops mean wasted time, financial loss and missed opportunities.

Informed resource

So to help farmers make the most of cover crops, this guide was put together by a project led by Yorkshire farmer Angus Gowthorpe.

“It gives farmers an informed resource to confidently make decisions about which cover crops to plant where and when, and how to manage them.”

Using the guide’s interactive plant species selection tool, growers can assess the suitability of different brassica, legume, cereal and other varieties of cover crops.

Each species is profiled for its winter hardiness, root depth, grazing potential and nitrogen-fixing and storing qualities.

Details of each species’ sowing period, depth and rate, seed size and insect benefits are provided, as well as growth rate, reliability and soil benefits.

The guide can be found online and is free to use.