Establishing diverse cover crops, diverse pastures or diverse forage crops

Things to think about when establishing diverse crops or pastures

Questions to ask yourself

• What is the state of your soils’ health?

• Are there any limiting factors that might compromise your pastures ability to thrive (i.e. compaction)?

• If so, what can you do to alleviate them?

• Do you need to start from scratch (spraying/cultivating) or can you achieve your goals through drilling into existing pasture, broadcasting seed, or changing grazing management?

  • E.g. Diverse pastures can be ‘managed for’ by stimulating existing seed banks through grazing management, biostimulants etc.

Manage your expectations

• Diverse crops/pastures can take longer to properly establish than ryegrass and white clover and some species may not show up initially - patience is required.

• Take one step at a time - consider establishing your first diverse forage crop as you would a monoculture in order to gain confidence.

• The same seed mix will likely result in different outcomes in different soil conditions, climate/weather, sowing methods, grazing management, etc - even within the same paddock!

Consider your approach

Method of establishment will depend on factors such as:

• soil conditions (e.g. compaction) and if significant crop residue or pasture thatch remains

• access to spray or cultivation gear

  • Timing is important so having your own equipment such as cultivation gear, aerators, drills and fertiliser sprayer/spreaders can be beneficial.

• type of drill/seeder available

• personal views or experience on the relative negative impacts of herbicides vs cultivation in each context

Method of drilling mixed-size seeds, e.g:

• Compromise depth - halfway depth between big and small seeds

• Multiple passes - drill big and small seeds at different depths

• Drill and broadcast - drill big seeds and broadcast small seeds

Monitor for pests (e.g. slugs) before and after sowing

Nigel Greenwood transitioned from min-till to no-till and now direct drills all cash and cover crops.

Options to consider

• Do you want to:

  • Add or not adding fertiliser at drilling

  • Add biostimulants to seed at drilling

  • Add inoculants to seed or soils

• Consider using untreated seed as agri-chemicals can impact soil microbes; plant diversity will help reduce disease and insect pressure.

• Cultivation, fertiliser, and sprays may help to give you ‘peace of mind’ as you build your knowledge and experience in growing a successful diverse crop.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

Check out our Regenerative Viticulture case study to hear why one vineyard cultivates and the other is no-till

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