MAKE YOUR COVER CROPS PROFITABLE

Every year, millions of acres are left fallow during the winter and early spring months. All because farmers believe that it is too costly to incorporate cover crops into their farming plan. While that may have been the case in the past, recent breakthroughs by Grassland Oregon in the development of cold-tolerant clovers have changed the economic role of cover crops. Cover crops can deliver immediate positive returns during months that ground normally sits idle. In addition to the immediate benefit you also will benefit by the long term improvement of the soil structure and health. Cover crops now make sense on owned or leased acreage!

If you are a forage farmer you can produce more than 40 tons/acre of green chop or more than 4 tons/acre of dry matter. Clovers are extremely high in feed quality. Our FIXatioN Balansa Clover produces forages with crude protein regularly exceeding 22% and relative feed values of greater than 200. At $150/ton for high quality hay that equates to more than a $600/acre potential return, not too bad for a time frame that many acres sit idle.

Our clovers also feature taproots that extend deep into the soil pulling up nutrients that can be utilized by the following crops. As nitrogen fixers these workhorses can produce more than 200 lbs. of nitrogen per acre, much of which will be immediately available to succeeding crops. This plant based nitrogen is more stable than manufactured nitrogen and as a bonus it is not detrimental to your soil’s pH.

GROW YOUR OWN FERTILIZER

Cover crops like FIXatioN Balansa Clover can be an important source of nutrients for the following crops. FIXatioN clover extends a tap root deep into the soil in the fall even though it might not exhibit a lot of above ground growth. This tap root is excellent for mining nutrients that lay deep in the soil and bring them up to where they are stored in the plant material. Once the cover crop is terminated and the plant tissues decompose, these minerals are released for use by the following crop.

FIXatioN is also very effective at creating nitrogen. Nodules that are on the tap-root interact synergistically with the special rhizobia contained in the seed coating to “fix” nitrogen from the air. This nitrogen is also stored in the plants tissues. Once the cover crop is terminated the microbes in the soil break down the plant material and in turn, make this nitrogen available to the following crop. Plant based nitrogen is more stable in the soil than commercial nitrogen. As a result, the nitrogen created by the FIXatioN cover crop will continue to be released over time for future crops.

So while FIXatioN Balansa Clover is extremely good for your soils, it is also very nice to your bank account. University trials in Ohio and Illinois showed that FIXatioN Balansa Clover could make more than 100 dollars of nutrients available to the following crops.

Source: Illinois Ewing Demonstration Trial 2016

Now that’s a cover crop that pays!

AN IDEAL ROTATION CROP

FIXatioN balansa clover’s most impressive capability is saving you money. With FIXatioN’s low seeding rate of 3-5 pounds per acre in a mix, and its incredible ability to fix nitrogen in your soil, it basically pays for itself – not to mention its ability to suppress weeds with its incredible Bio-Massive stems. Make the investment in FIXatioN balansa clover today and see your future returns grow.

AN IDEAL ROTATION CROP

CORN

FIXatioN can be broadcasted into standing corn in the V7-V8 stage. The clover will sprout, but exhibit little foliar growth until the corn begins to dry down or the corn is removed.

WHEAT

FIXatioN is excellent when following small grains. We recommend that FIXatioN be drilled for best results. Be careful you don’t drill too deep! The seedbed should be firm and the seed planted at ¼ of an inch depth.

RICE

FIXatioN offers amazing performance in wet or water-logged soils, making it the perfect cover crop for rice! Capable of producing large amounts of nitrogen, FIXatioN will reduce fertility costs for your following crop.

COTTON

FIXatioN is an excellent cover crop for cotton due to its high nitrogen fixation. For the best results, we recommend planting FIXatioN with Frosty berseem clover, Grassland Oregon’s new cold-tolerant berseem variety.

NITROGEN CONTRIBUTION

Can fix over 250 lbs of nitrogen per acre
Equates to about $78.75 savings in nitrogen fertilizer*

*based on 2015 projections at fair value N prices – $630/ton

We had a trial done in the Fall where we sampled a two year old white clover field, and the first crop of FIXatioN. The two year old white clover field had almost 400 pounds of nitrogen. The FIXatioN had about 320 after just one year of production, so to me, that is quite a feat to produce that much nitrogen as an annual crop.

-Mike Coon Seed Producer from Oak Park Farms, Oregon