In 2023, a survey was distributed to BC Dairy Producers to gauge their familiarity with and interest in BMPs like relay cover cropping. The survey gathered valuable insights into how growers perceive adopting this practice’s potential benefits and challenges.
The BC Dairy Association is leading field research for BC’s dairy sector. In partnership with producers, they are trialling relay cropping, fall cover cropping, and low-emission manure spreading. Relay cropping is the practice of seeding an existing crop, such as ryegrass, into corn silage, which is used as part of corn silage or other annual crop production for dairy feed. Fall cover cropping involves planting a crop after corn silage or harvesting another crop for dairy feed. Low-emission manure spreading involves techniques such as shallow/deep injection, surface banding of manure or using a trailing hose for application.
The role of relay cropping, fall cover cropping and low-emission manure spreading practices could be economically significant for producers in reducing fertilizer and manure management costs and potentially providing another revenue generating crop.
