Cover crops
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.
Product benefits (ACRES)
- A mixture of at least two crops from the prescribed list must be sown.
- Catch crops must remain in place until after 1 January.
Usage instructions
| Rate | Oats – 100kg/ha; Black oats – 60kg/ha |
| Time | Sow from mid-July up until 15 September if sowing for ACRES eligibility |
| Frost tolerance | Poor |
| Biomass | Reasonable |
| Pests and diseases | Generally not a problem |