Why Use Cover Crops?

• For many agricultural soils, cover crops offer the only practical means of supplying the organic matter necessary to keep soil in a high state of productivity.
• Organic matter makes the soil more friable, improves tilth, and facilitates water penetration.
• As Organic matter decays, cover crops provide Nitrogen and other soil nutrients for succeeding crops.
• The soil micro-organisms that benefit from the decay of succulent cover crop residue contribute to a healthier soil ecosystem.*

*Reprinted with permission from ANR Publications