Article taken from Agronomist & Arable Farmer Magazine
The role of cover crops in black-grass control and soil conditioning will be a key focus at Agrovista's Cereals stand this year. Agrovista has been working with cover crops for several years, notably at its Project Lamport site in Northamptonshire — a seven-year rotational cover crop trial to develop novel black-grass control strategies.
The role of cover crops in black-grass control and soil conditioning will be a key focus at Agrovista's Cereals stand this year. Agrovista has been working with cover crops for several years, notably at its Project Lamport site in Northamptonshire — a seven-year rotational cover crop trial to develop novel black-grass control strategies.
It is proving to be a stern test —black-grass populations exceed 2,000 heads/m2 at the site. However, using the right species and mixes while creating a plat-form to encourage maximum black-grass germination in the autumn before spraying off and direct drilling into the mulch has reduced populations to less than 8 heads/m2.