Tillage Radishes: Green Tillage for the Soil!

Got soil compaction? Instead of using a soil structure destroying device such as a ripper, try Tillage Radishes instead! Tillage Radishes hold great benefits for the soil by alleviating compaction naturally, increasing water infiltration, adding tons of organic matter to the soil and keeping the soil covered throughout the winter. Tillage Radishes also benefit fertility by acting as a nutrient recycling pump to recover residual nitrogen and by scavenging nutrients from deep within in the soil profile and depositing them on or near the soil surface. Radishes also provide outstanding winter annual weed control. Farmers have also successfully grazed the tillage radishes when planted by themselves or mixed with another grazing type species. Click here to learn about all the benefits of Tillage Radishes.

Tillage Radishes also have a "Green Tillage" effect by allowing you to prepare the seedbed with plants instead of steel. No piece of steel can benefit the soil like roots from a good cover crop such as Tillage Radishes. Producers such as Steve Groff of Cedar Meadow Farm have shown that crops grown after a cover crop of Tillage Radishes have consistently higher yields than a non-cover crop seedbed. The University of Maryland has done 3 years of research which has shown yield increases of up to 17 bushel per acre for corn and 7-9 bushel per acre increase for soybeans. In about a dozen site-years of research in which a good stand of radish cover crop was established in fall, the University of Maryland team saw significant yield increases about 50% of the time (but never significant yield decreases) compared to where no cover crop was planted. In side by side comparisons, some farmers have experienced a range of corn yield increases of 20-40 bushels per acre! Click here to learn more about Tillage Radish Research.

Tillage radishes can be planted in the late summer and should be planted at a rate of 8-10 lbs per acre, 1/4 to 1/2 inch deep. Many farmers are experimenting with various companion covers and corresponding seeding rates. Click here to learn how to grow Tillage Radishes.