April 7th, 2020
When your soil is so clayey it's more for pottery than farming, with
using catch crops, you'll build up a pore system for better aeration and
you will dampen the negative soil reaction through organics.
The opposite is the case - when the soil is sandy and does not retain the much needed water and food, with
using catch crops you will accumulate them in the topsoil and the organic
mass will contribute to building up fertile humus.
April 7th, 2020
Weak soil, with acid reaction, wheat suffers from autumn adversities, is not well developed and there is leaf loss, the stress of frost falling after herbicide treatment is superimposed and the final effect is extremely poor. We are trying to remanivate with a combination of foliar and mineral fertiliser, but the conclusion is that this stand needs to be 'recultivated' because every year with every crop there is some drama and poor results. Ameliorative measures are quite expensive, if the land is permanently cultivated it may be worth the investment. But the quickest and most affordable way to improve such unproductive land is to introduce a variety of catch/cover crops into the rotation.