Northeast Iowa no-tiller Rick Matt uses a “salad” mix on his fields. It typically includes cowpeas, sunflower, sorghum-sudangrass, radish, turnip, Japanese millet, proso millet, red clover, soybeans, sunhemp, rapeseed and buckwheat. 

The cowpeas, sunflowers, rapeseed and tropical sunhemp are used as pollinators that fix nitrogen levels and produce vigorous growth, according to Matt.

The brassicas like radish and turnips are used to penetrate clay soil and end in a late season forage. They are within every square foot of the field and grow to be larger than a glove. The sorghum-sudangrass adds extra biomass and is highly palatable for grazing.

“I think the soil was picking what it wanted out of my multi-species mix, and what grows is what the ground is fit for, but all of those root systems do add to each other in the ground,” Matt says.

He adds Japanese millet and proso millet to help establish roots in poorer areas and mitigate a foxtail problem. He also uses red clover, as it is the cheapest clover, to add nitrogen to the soil. Last but not least, his primary grain is buckwheat. 

“That’s my favorite crop,” Matt says. “It’s the first thing to bloom. I swear to God, it’ll bloom two to three weeks after you plant it, and it will go to seed and bloom again. Really fast-growing, very fibrous root system.”

To learn more about the benefits that cover crops bring to Matt’s farm, read Téalin Robinson’s article “Cover Crop Grazing Provides Economic & Soil Health Wins” on Cover Crop Strategies.