Why Cover Crops? There are many important reasons why cover crops should be sown and utilised. Using a range of species and crops for different lengths of time, can create significant benefits for soil health. This is a non-exhaustive list of reasons why cover crops are beneficial: Nitrogen Fixation Nitrogen is fixed by rhizobium bacterium on the nodules of legume cover crops and this nitrogen will be freely available upon destruction and incorporation of the old cover crops. This freely available nitrogen can improve subsequent yields and reduce the need of purchased artificial fertiliser, thereby improving gross margins of any crop grown after a cover crop.
Reduced leaching and run off One of the greatest pollutants from agriculture is diffuse source pollution, which can arise from both nitrate leaching and soil run-off which deposits phosphates into waters courses in the UK. Both nitrates and phosphates in waters has detrimental effects to local water sources, such as eutrophication which causes algal blooms that reduce oxygen levels in the water and therefore reduces biodiversity in waters. Nitrates leach over winter when rainfall washes out nitrogen in bare soils not covered by a crop, whereas phosphates, which are bound to soil particles are deposited into surface waters by soil erosion. This is most prevalent in soils which have poor soil structure. You can help reduce these pollutants on your farm by planting a cover crop which will scavenge for leachable nitrates and help bind the soil thereby preventing further phosphate deposition in your local water.
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