Oats & black oats
Oats and black oats can provide cover over the winter to help reduce soil erosion due to good tillering capacity.
Oats have poor winter tolerance and are easily killed and worked back into the soil. They are useful for weed suppression and as a nurse crop with hairy vetch.
- Sowing rate: Oats at 60-75 kg/ha; Black oats at 30-40 kg/ha
- Sowing time: Sow from mid-July up until 15 September if sowing for ACRES eligibility
- Frost tolerance: Poor
- Biomass: Reasonable
- Pests & diseases: Generally not a problem
ACRES requirements
- The following table presents the full list of prescribed catch crops permitted within the ACRES scheme.
- A mixture of at least two crops from the prescribed list must be sown.
- Catch crops must remain in place until after 1 January.
| Brassica | Legume | Cereal | Other |
| Forage rape
4-5 kg/ha |
Crimson clover
10-15 kg/ha |
Rye
65-75 kg/ha |
Phacelia
4-5 kg/ha |
| Leafy turnip
4-6 kg/ha |
Berseem clover
10-15 kg/ha |
Oats
60-75 kg/ha |
Buckwheat
30-40 kg/ha |
| Tillage radish
4-6 kg/ha |
Vetch
15 kg/ha |
Black oats
30-40 kg/ha |
Sunflowers
10-15 kg/ha |
| Mustard
8-10 kg/ha |
Peas
40-50 kg/ha |
Linseed
15 kg/ha |
|
| Beans
70-90 kg/ha |
|||
| Red clover
8-10 kg/ha |
Ask an expert
Ask an expert if you would like any advice about grassland management.