Rolling catch crops can be an alternative to flail. This is cheaper, but greening requirements must be met. We have tips for you.
Catch crops are often cut to prevent seeds from ripening or to ensure that they will die off safely over the winter. In these cases the roller n can be an inexpensive alternative to flail .
The Agricultural Information Service for Sugar Beet (LIZ) shows what needs to be considered when using the rolling process for catch crops:
- If possible, carried out immediately before frost , this penetrates better into the damaged plants. The oil radish, for example, dies safely even at low degrees of frost.
- Carried out during flowering, the seed ripening can be prevented.
- Compared to flail, the biomass is retained longer. In this way, the soil is better protected from silting up and erosion for longer. The nutrients are released later and less relocated.
Rolling catch crops: what should you watch out for?
When rolling the catch crops, keep the following five tips in mind:
- Rolling is also permitted on greening areas before February 15th to prevent the seeds from ripening.
- However, caution is required with knife rollers that easily dig into the ground. There is different acceptance here depending on the federal state.
- If you are rolling, then not too late so that the biomass can decompose sufficiently by the time it is tilled in spring.
- Subsequent hammering for size reduction is not possible. Only the use of a compact disc harrow makes sense, but only with limited effect.
- With high speeds and large working widths when rolling on animals in the catch crop was respected.
(With material from the Agricultural Information Service Zuckerrübe (LIZ)
