Straight Catch and Cover Crop Seed
Catch and cover crops are playing an increasingly vital role in UK farming systems — from improving soil health and weed suppression to supporting nutrient retention and biodiversity. At Oakbank, we are actively involved in making these crops work for the farm business, including through on-farm trials with Velcourt and other leading partners.
We offer a wide range of straight species for use in both catch cropping and cover cropping, giving you the flexibility to design a solution that works for your rotation, soil type, and environmental goals.
Species available as straights include:
- Black oats - deep-rooting, high biomass, excellent for nutrient scavenging
Forage rye - cold-tolerant and fast-growing, ideal for late sowing
Legumes - including berseem clover, vetches, and crimson clover for nitrogen-fixation and soil structure
SMART radish - deep rooting, hybrid radish for soil conditioning
Daikon and oil radish - fast-growing brassicas with excellent taproots
Buckwheat - quick establishment, supports pollinators, useful for phosphate mobilisation
Phacelia - attractive to insects, improves soil structure
Linseed - fibrous rooting, drought-tolerant and adds diversity
We are able to offer these species as individual straights or we can create bespoke mixtures for your particular purpose. There is a minimum order size of 500kg for bespoke catch and cover crop orders.
Stewardship-compliant standard mixes:
We have five standard multi-species mixes which all qualify as multi-species cover crops under Mid-Tier CS option SW6 and SFI actions SAM2/CSAM2 (multi-species winter cover), SOH2 and SOH3 (spring and summer-sown options). If you are looking for a mix to grow after maize to qualify for SFI SOH4, please contact the office.
