They have the potential to improve soil health, bring yield benefits and possibly reduce costs over time.

The payment should be seen as a way to get long-term benefit with the help of funding. Doing it just for the money can be a false economy.

Aim to get these mixes sown as early as possible, but you could get a batch or two of weeds to strike after winter barley before planting. But in general, early sowing equals growth and growth equals organic matter.

Planting must be done by min-till, but a good seedbed is essential for the small seeds being planted. This may be easier with a disc cultivator operated at speed.

The seeds can be sown as part of the same pass, but they should really be rolled in. Small seeds need shallow planting. It becomes easier to get a seedbed after a year or two.

The species planted should be influenced by rotation and sowing date.

Planting advice

Don’t plant a brassica-like rape or mustard if you have oilseed rape or other brassicas in the rotation. The same for peas.

If you are planting early, do not plant oats or mustard due to risks from crown rust or seed-set, respectively.

As your soil begins to improve from the system, more complex crop mixtures might be considered, as these can have even greater soil structure benefits.

Simple early mixes might include black oats, fodder rape and possibly a legume.

Options for later planting might include oats plus rape or mustard. Things like radish, phacelia and other crops are better used with earlier planting once you get establishment mastered.

Read more

Disappointment from winter barley harvest

Straw prices remain strong nationwide

Harvest moves into next phase