22 August 2024

Richie Hackett explains how cover crops offer multiple benefits for farmers

Cover crops have many benefits for a farmer and also for the wider landscape. On this week’s Tillage Edge podcast, Dr Richie Hackett, Teagasc Crops Researcher in Oak Park, delves into the benefits and pitfalls when growing cover crops.

Richie cautions farmers about using the same cover crop mixes in rotation with similar plant species and recommends a relatively safe cover crop mix that most farmers can use.

Richie also explains that an early-sown cover crop can produce 4t of dry matter, utilising up to 80kg/ha of nitrogen and sequestering 1.2t of carbon. However, he says, that predicting when or how much of the captured nitrogen would be available to the next crops is difficult to estimate.

Listen in below for more insights:

For more episodes and information from the Tillage Edge podcast, produced on behalf of Teagasc by LastCastMedia.com, visit the Tillage Edge podcast show page.