Are cover crops in grain fields harvested?
Question by farmgirl: Are cover crops in grain fields harvested?
This may be a silly question but I was wondering, when farmers plant a cover crop such as buckwheat in their grain fields do they harvest the buckwheat grains along with the main grain or is it just turned into green manure?
I understand that they are used for weed control, but I was wondering what happens to them after the grain plants are harvested?
Can you help? Leave your own answer in the comments!
3 Responses to Are cover crops in grain fields harvested?
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A cover crop such as wheat or rye could be let mature and harvested the following summer, but by definition, cover crops are those planted after harvest in order to provide ground cover over winter when the main crop is not growing. The crop doesn’t really have to be planted after the main crop is harvested because sometimes the cover crop is seeded using an airplane or helicopter.
bikinkawboy
April 28, 2011 at 2:14 pm
i think the main reason for planting cover crops is to prevent growth of weeds..
Avicenna
April 28, 2011 at 2:29 pm
When we use Oats as a covercrop for alfalfa, the oats are harvested in the summer for their grain and the alfalfa is harvested the following year.
Cover crops are planted to help let the other crop establish.
Rye is planted to prevent weeds for its green manure or holistic weed control.
http://www.ag.ndsu.edu/pubs/plantsci/smgrains/a199w.htm
the long shot
April 28, 2011 at 2:34 pm