Broadleaves
Sunflower (Black Oil)
Sunflower is renowned for its extensive and prolific root system and its ability to soak up residual nutrients. Sunflowers work very well in cover crop mixtures. With rapid early season establishment, additional covers under the canopy that normally don’t grow under cool conditions can begin to take advantage of warmer and favorable weather when sunflowers are growing slower. With upright growth and anchored plants in the soil, surrounding vining plants can support their own growth by working their way up to reach sunlight thereby providing the structure they need to grow. Because sunflowers can add significant biomass production in a short growing season, they can also serve as additional forage or silage for livestock feed. Insects are attracted to the bright colors of sunflower heads, pollinators and beneficials such as bees, damsel bugs, lacewings, hoverflies, minute pirate bugs, and non-stinging parasitoid wasps are often found in fields of sunflower and in following crops.
from $0.90 per lb
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Safflower (Baldy)
Safflower is a drought tolerant, warm season broadleaf that provides excellent forage for livestock. Most varieties or safflower become prickly with maturity, rendering the plants unpalatable for livestock, but Baldy Safflower is a spineless variety developed specifically for grazing and cover crops. Baldy can be handled with bare hands even at maturity and is palatable for livestock grazing. In addition to it's grazing capabilities, safflower is exceptional at breaking hard pans, encouraging water and air movement into the soil profile, as well as scavenging nutrients from depths unavailable to most agronomic crops. It's impressive taproot which has been observed to grow 8-10 feet in ideal conditions. Green Cover Seed owns the exclusive marketing rights for Baldy spineless safflower.
from $0.85 per lb
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Chicory (Endure)
Chicory is a deep rooted forb that goes great in many perennial pasture mixes. Because of its ability to reach many minerals in the soil, this is a highly nutritious grazing plant especially before it blooms with blue flowers. Chicory has natural deworming abilities adding to its benefits in perennial grazing systems where it should be seeded at a low rate for cattle but can be increased for sheep or other small ruminants.
from $5.00 per lb
