Legume fallow mixtures are a useful tool for managing nutrient efficiency, improving soil structure and health and also provide food for farmland wildlife, such pollinators including bumblebees, solitary bees, butterflies and hoverflies throughout late spring and summer months as well as providing food for chicks.
Legume fallow mixtures can also be a useful part of a rotation aimed at reducing blackgrass populations, the inclusion of grasses can be particularly useful for smothering blackgrass.
The grasses used in the Agrovista legume fallow with grasses mixture have been shown to bemore effective than ryegrasses when it comes to reducing blackgrass populations.
SFI/CSS compatibility
| Arable crops |
Temp crops |
Horticultural |
Non horticultural |
Improved |
Low input |
| NUM 3 |
Y |
Y |
Y |
|
|
|
| AB15 |
Y |
Y |
Y |
|
|
|
The seed mixtures have been designed to be compatible with a range of actions within the Countryside Stewardship Scheme (CSS) and the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI). However, these mixtures are no guarantee of compliance and should therefore be grown and managed in a way that can be reasonably expected to meet the aims of the action.