The rotation, seed by seed.

Rye, wheat, oats, legumes — what each crop gives the soil, and where it fits in the rotation.

The winter workhorse. Roots that break a hardpan and hold it together.

The staple. Best after a legume, and the cleanest straw.

Fast cover, faster biomass. The cheapest way to blanket a bare field.

Clover, vetch, peas — the nitrogen fixers that feed the next crop.

Four crops

The rotation decides the mix.

deep roots

Punches through hardpan and holds the field all winter.

fall

staple

Pays the bills and leaves the cleanest straw on the farm.

spring

fast cover

Up in days, blankets a bare field before the wind gets it.

spring

N-fixer

Pulls nitrogen from the air and leaves it in the ground, free.

legume