Safflower
Safflower belongs to the family compositae and is widely grown as a catch crop and green manure across Europe.
Safflower can establish quite quickly and has an extensive rooting structure, penetrating up to 2.5m of soil depth. The main advantage of safflower is its drought resistance and rapid growth once sown.
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Sowing rate: 3 kg/ha
Sowing time: Sow from mid-July up until 15 September (not ACRES approved)
Frost tolerance: Poor
Biomass: Lower biomass than many other cover crops, but it works well as part of a mixture and the recommendation would be to sow it with other cover crops
Pests & diseases: Generally not a problem