Plant Diversity Co.
Compacted Headland
Improve Water Infiltration & Reduce Compaction
Q: Are your compacted headlands getting better over time? Why not try something different? (1 tote = 30 acres)
For farms wanting to improve the health of their soil on compacted headlands or poor-producing areas of a field, we highly recommend our Full Season Cover to be used as a green manure disc-down.
Full Season Cover
Green Manure Discdown
By balancing the Carbon: Nitrogen ratio at the ideal 24:1, you are allowing the microbes to build soil aggregates & improve water infiltration/holding capacity.
Seeding Rate: 60 Ibs/acre
Seed Tag: Click Here
Inoculant Required: Learn More
Pictures of soil were taken from exact GPS referenced location from May 19th - November 2nd.
Location: Roland, Manitoba
Why is this happening?
Soil Aggregation
Soil aggregates not only allow your soil to infiltrate water but to hold it as well. A soil with a “cottage cheese” or “chocolate cake” look is a great indicator of a healthy, fungal-dominant soil.
Having a living root in the ground (carbon exchange) will allow for mycorrhizal fungi colonies to be established. Once established, they release a glue called “glomalin”. This glomalin then glues micro-aggregates, clay, silt, plant/fungal debris & particulate organic matter decomposed by saprophytic fungi together to form what is known as a “soil aggregate”.
Full Season Cover
The Disc-Down Protocol
Shallow incorporation with a disc should take place shortly after the legumes in the blend start to flower or the milk stage in cereals. Our apprehension about mowing the crop is much of that vegetative material will oxidize and not be made available to the below-ground biology. Tillage will cycle the nutrients faster and offer biology more surface area around the plant biomass causing rapid breakdown. Try not to over till as the risk of erosion and depleted mycorrhizal fungi increases with every pass, but create a mixture of soil and plant biomass.
Image: Approx. disc-down timing
Image: Approx. disc-down timing
Reducing Compaction
why not try 30 acres?
See below for another farmer trial who implemented a Full Season Cover to help with a poor-producing field.
Remember to apply for the OFCAF funding where you may be eligible to receive up to $35.00/acre (max. $75,000) for the adoption of multispecies cover crops on your operation. Click here for help getting the process/application started.
Funding will differ across Manitoba, Saskatchewan, & Alberta.