Black Oats, otherwise known as Saia Oats, is the world’s most widely used winter green manure – with good reason. This temperate cereal offers farmers a number of benefits: Black Oats produce a high level of organic matter. They form a dense cover, and protect the soil from wind and rainfall erosion. Due to the way in which Oats tiller, they have the ability to effectively suppress weeds. Creeping grasses and weeds are suppressed – due to allelopathy. Similarly, particularly

Multi-species mixtures have become a popular approach to “cover cropping”. The question arises: What is the benefit in this approach? According to research by Penn State University, planting a multi-species crop, as opposed to a mono-culture, provides multifunctionality. If you only have one plant, you only get one benefit. Combining species enables you to tick multiple boxes. Multiple species improve the soil’s biological activities as they feed beneficial organisms. Differe