Relay cropping a legume into a cereal is an easy-to-implement practice to “pre-establish” a fall cover crop. This is advantageous in our northern climate due to limited sunlight & moisture after harvest.
Recommendation: Red Clover due to its winter hardiness & nitrogen fixation capabilities.
Relay cropping
Red clover into small grain cereal
Recommended Seeding Rate: 5-10 Ibs/acre of Red Clover. (depending on timing & seeding method)
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what is relay cropping?
Learn from farmers who have been implementing relay crops into their operations.
Relay Cropping
seeding Guideline
Ranked according to “best chance of success”.
Learn More about the pros and cons of each seeding method.
Sown With Cereal Crop.
Sow With Disc Drill.
Broadcast.
Relay Cropping
termination Guideline
Depending on your farm’s goals, you have three options.
Learn More about termination methods.
Terminate Early Spring.
Terminate Mid Spring & Green Seed.
Harvest Hay Forage & Seed Cash Crop.
THe benefits of relay cropping
Water infiltration
Intercrop Environment: Vegetative legumes with high carbon cereals provide a balanced diet for microbial populations. This balanced diet promotes an environment in which soil micro-organisms (specifically Mycorrhizal Fungi) can thrive and build soil aggregates. These soil aggregates allow the soil to infiltrate and hold water.
Benchmarking your soil with a water infiltration test is a good idea to gauge the effects relay cropping (balancing your C:N ratio/soil aggregation) has on the overall health of your soil.
The benefits of relay cropping
Root Architecture
Relay cropping a legume into a cereal is an easy-to-implement practice to maximize sunlight, moisture & help balance C:N in our Northern climate.
Image: Spring Wheat Root System
Image: Red Clover Root System