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A network of farmers dedicated to promoting the benefits of cover crops and offering practical advice has been established by the AHDB. Eight farmers from various regions in the UK will conduct trials on different cover crop approaches before the 2025 harvest to evaluate the impact of factors such as variety selection, establishment, growth, and destruction. These trials will also assess nitrogen levels in both the soil and crops to understand how cover crops affect nutrient dynamics and the availability of nitrogen to subsequent cash crops.

Soil condition was a concern after a wet growing season in 2023-24, making it a good opportunity to study how cover crops can help soil recovery compared to areas without cover crops. Ana Reynolds, head of sustainable farming and research at AHDB, highlights the environmental, soil, crop, and economic benefits of cover crops, emphasizing the importance of sharing successes and failures to assist other farmers on their cover crop journey and inform decision-making tools.

The AHDB cover crop champions include farmers from Scotland, Northern Ireland, the North East, East Midlands, East Anglia, South East, South West, and the North West. Each farmer will conduct unique experiments to evaluate the effectiveness of different cover crop strategies. Additional information and resources, including videos by each champion, can be found on the AHDB website.

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