b'COVER CROP CORNERCover Cropping is an Ally in Promoting Plant DiversityREGENERATIVE AGRICULTURE IS a system of farming that seeks to improve soil health, increase biodiversity, and promote ecological balance. One of the key components of regen ag is increasing plant diversity. In natural settings, there are no monocultures, but rather a dynamic blend of different plants growing together in harmony, which changes with time, climate, and management. By pairing functional plant groups, we can create a diverse mix that benefits farm ecology.KEVIN ELMY,Functional plant groups are described by what they is founder of Coverdo for the plant, soil and animal ecology. Grass, legume, Crops Canada. His book CoverBrassica, non-Brassica broadleaf, and forb are the five Cropping inmain groups of functional plants. Depending on what Western Canada is available throughthe goals are and what plants are available, there are other Friesen Press,ways of breaking them into different groups. Each of these Amazon, and digitally throughgroups can be further grouped into warm and cool species Apple Books,groups, which then can be further grouped into annual, Kindle, and Google Play. For morebiennial and perennial options. By figuring out your info on Covergoals, species can be selected based on what they bring to Crops Canada visit covercrops.ca the blend.For example, a mix of oat, barley, triticale, and pea covers two functional plant groups: annual cool season legume and annual cool season grasses. By comparison, a mix of oat, Japanese millet, Italian ryegrass, pea, turnip,The same polycrop blend with two different rates of barley. Phacelia, chicory, and sunflower covers more functional plant groups: annual cool season grass, annual warmencouraging flowers to be in our system helps create season grass, biennial cool season grass, annual coolhealthy soil.season legume, biennial cool season Brassica, annual coolCreating a goal is important to make smart species season forb, biennial warm season forb, and annual warmselection, knowing the function of the species, and season non-Brassica broadleaf. This plant diversity willidentifying synergistic and antagonistic species. The help drive soil health. seeding rate will determine the proper expression of each Once you know what species you want, seeding rate isspecies. Time of seeding will also dictate what group of the next part of the equation. To determine the amountfunctional plant groups will be used. of the blend that will be allocated to each species in theSeeding warm season species while soil temperatures mix, we need to know the number of seeds in a pound,are cool will put them at a disadvantage to the cool species kilogram or bushel of the seed and the regular plantthat are better adapted to those conditions. Likewise with density of a monoculture crop. The grass will producebiennial and perennial plants. They tend to be slower-biomass and provide a fibrous root system.establishing than annuals, so can disappear in a mix if the There are a lot of options for functional plant groupsannual species are seeded at too high of a rate. No sense for both warm and cool season species, annual, biennial,seeding different functional plant groups if they are not and perennial. Legumes provide a nitrogen fixingallowed to establish.opportunity due to their relationship with nitrogen fixingModern agriculture has developed a production rhizobia. Brassica species are nutrient scavengers. Non- system based on monocultures. This has led us to a path Brassica broadleaf is a catch-all type of grouping due toof increased inputs and expense. By re-establishing plant the vast diversity of the plant types. Forbs are describeddiversity along with other soil health principles, we can as flowering plants, and they tend to disappear quicklystart healing our soils and recovering net margin that we in a system with animals. Therefore, reintroducing andhave lost over the years. 40SPUDSMART.COMSummer 2023'