Catch Crops (Green Cropping)
A catch crop is a crop grown on land that would normally remain fallow in between normal crop rotations.
None-So-Hardy has approximately 100 acres under catch crop at any one time. Our favoured catch crops are oats, barley or mustard.
There are many advantages to growing a catch crop including the following:
- Protection of soil structure against erosion from heavy rain
- Help in alleviating soil compaction
- Adding of organic matter to the soil
- Help in preventing minerals being flushed away from the soil (i.e conserves leachable minerals)
- Can sometimes add minerals to the soil (e.g. nitrogen)
- Can help increase yield and quality of crops
- Encourages wildlife habitats such as buttlerflies, bees, birdlife etc.