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INTERCROPS

Intercropping crops and cover crops have grown significantly over the last years and here’s an idea why. Whether it’s for their beneficial effects on soil and structure, to favor diversity in crops, for plants symbiosis or simply for their nutrients input at decomposition time, they bring economic and environmental benefits.

RED CLOVER

Single-cut Red Clover • Double-cut Red Clover

Red clover is a popular specie in intercropping. It offers an appealing fall cover. It generally doesn’t affect cereal but might be risky during a wet year.
Concerning the choice of mixtures, you will have to choose your type of red clover based on your situation.


Since the
single-cut red clover is less aggressive at first, it will be used in less competitive crops such as barley and mixed grain or in a fall crop whose survival rate in the spring will be medium.


On the other hand,
double-cut red clover, whose establishment is rapid, will be used in oats and wheat crops or in a fall crop with an excellent recovery.
Being winterhardy, special attention to its destruction should be ensured. In conventional form, glyphosate alone won’t always be strong enough to destroy it completely. If the next crop is soybean, it should be completely destroyed in the fall. In organic management, the soil preparation in the fall should be aggressive, tillage should ensure its destruction.

RAYGRASS FABIO

The Italian Ryegrass with its abundant root system will contribute to improve your soil structure and the bearing capacity of your agriculture machinery. It will also reduce the loss by leaching by recuperating excess nutrients. Being non winterhardy, the ryegrass can sometimes survive and may need to be destroyed in the spring. Preferring cool and humid conditions, the planting during a hot and dry summer is risky.

HUIA CLOVER

Huia Clover is a white clover which, unlike ladino, stays small in size. Once it is firmly seeded, it can withstand drought. It reproduces through stolons, a soil preparation to bring them to the surface should be enough to destroy them.

ANNUAL RYEGRASS

La Luzerne n’est pas fréquemment utilisée. Étant annuelle, sa destruction sera plus simple à effectuer qu’avec la variété vivace. Sa racine pivotante plus profonde que celle du trèfle lui confère aussi une résistance à la sécheresse. Sa vitesse de minéralisation pourrait aussi être différente mais doit encore faire l’objet d’études.

Ryegrass has an extremely dense and fibrous root system that is known for its beneficial effect on soil structure. This dense root system can become an inconvenience, however, when preparing the seedbed in the spring. Ryegrass is a nitrogen-loving grass that requires fertilizing to reach its full potential. Hence, ryegrass helps limit nitrogen losses due to leaching and competes well with weeds that have similar nitrogen requirements. Ryegrass prefers fine to medium-textured soils and establishes best under moist conditions. Although ryegrass is an annual, it may overwinter if well established. If this is the case, the crop will need to be controlled in the spring.


Intercropped with corn, ryegrass tolerates both shade and competition. Its growth is limited during the summer, but explodes after the silage harvest. Its greatest advantage is that it improves the weight-bearing capacity of the soil for farm equipment in the fall when harvest conditions are not always ideal.

INTERCROPPING MIXTURES

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