Cover crops minimize top soil and OM loss from heavy rain

Though I was aware of benefit of cover crops in fields, after so many days of heavy rain I instinctively felt the real benefit and cover crop use.

Our primary use of cover crops is to let the plants do the work. It's vague when we just talk about it. Of course we can list the benefit of using cover crops.
- protect top soil
- improve/maintain natural tilth
- hold water
- aerate soil
- break up compaction
- add OM
- add nitrogen (legumes)
- smother unwanted weeds, or at least control better
- attract beneficial insects
- stable habitat for pests and predators
- reduce disease occurrence
- buffer and harsh environmental impact

The list goes on and it could be more specific to each type of cover crop used.

In past several days I have realized that the benefits are much more than what's listed. Consider all the lost top soil, organic matter, soil structure, natural habitat. It's much harder to rebuild than to protect them. It takes many years to build rich soil. As long as cost of production, work, materials are cheaper, it's still viable option to do conventional farming with chemicals and big machinery, but this is all changing fast.

As I walk down by the rows of tea, soil is well-drained and soft directly benefiting from cover crop presence. Also top soil and OM are kept in place in the form of plant matter. Different niche of cover crops also gives different functions. Some bunch grasses hold better grip with thicker root mass, while crawling habit of certain legumes and grasses catch loose runoff sediments and OM.

Each year weather pattern is becoming more unpredictable and intensifying. It's very crucial time to develop ways to protect our valuable farm resources with minimal effort. The work itself is not so hard to do. The hardest part is taming our greed and ego.

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