This blog is part of our series of Wolfe’s Neck Center Stories, focusing on the people and the programs that drive our work for farmer viability, thriving ecosystems, and vibrant communities.
Why Cover Crops Matter: Protecting Soil and Sea at Wolfe’s Neck Center
As a demonstration campus, we spend our time here at Wolfe’s Neck Center tending to vegetables, fruits, grains, forages and livestock. But some of the most important crops we grow aren’t harvested at all. They are cover crops, and although they never end up at the farm stand or on a dinner plate, they play a powerful role in protecting our land, improving our soil and safeguarding the fragile ecosystems that surround our campus.
What Are Cover Crops?
Cover crops are plants that farmers intentionally grow not for sale, but for the many ecological benefits they provide. In the world of agriculture these benefits are known as ecosystem services—positive environmental impacts that come simply from having a living plant in the ground.
Different cover crops provide different services, but all of them give the soil a much-needed rest between intensive fruit and vegetable rotations. For vegetable growers especially, this “off season” is essential. “Cash crops” (crops to be sold) are nutrient hungry, and healthy long-term farming depends on building soil year after year, not depleting it.
Why Cover Crops Matter
The Wolfe’s Neck campus is part of a bigger, delicate system. Casco Bay, the Little River salt marsh and the tidal flats sit just steps from production fields. That means the soil isn’t just supporting crops, rather it’s connected to vibrant marine ecosystems that must be protected from erosion, nutrient runoff and other impacts of farming.
Cover crops help do exactly that. Their strong root systems anchor the soil, especially going into winter. Even after frost kills the plants above ground, their roots remain intact, holding the soil in place during storms and increasingly snowless Maine winters. On sloping terrain near the ocean, this makes all the difference.
We use cover crops throughout the West Bay fruit and vegetable production fields and in our greenhouses every winter on a bi-annual rotation. This year we planted oats as a fall cover crop in West Bay, and oats and peas inside our greenhouses. In June, we’ll seed buckwheat for our summer rotation.
The Many Ecosystem Services of Cover Crops
Farmers in Maine rely on a wide range of cover crop species because each one offers something unique:
Protecting Soil
- Preventing erosion: Roots hold soil in place during heavy rains and snowmelt.
- Creating shade: Dense growth smothers weeds before they can establish.
- Adding organic matter: Biomass from mowed or mulched cover crops feeds the soil.
Supporting Biodiversity
- Attracting pollinators: Buckwheat blooms bring a flurry of bees in midsummer.
- Providing habitat: Flowering and leafy crops give beneficial insects places to reproduce and shelter.
Cycling and Supplying Nutrients
- Absorbing nitrogen: Legumes like peas can pull nitrogen from the atmosphere and store it in the soil.
- Breaking up compaction: Daikon radishes send long taproots deep into the ground, improving soil structure.
Helping Farmers and Livestock
- Feed for grazing animals: Some cover crops can be harvested or grazed by small livestock like sheep.
- Microclimate benefits: Tall varieties like Sudan grass can buffer wind and create protected growing conditions.
“We see ourselves as land stewards first. The health of the soil, the vitality of our pastures and the protection of Casco Bay are all interconnected,” said Tom Prohl, Senior Farm Operations Manager. “Our goal is to improve the land every year so that it can continue feeding our community long into the future.”
Cover crops may be quiet workers, but they are foundational to this mission. By protecting the soil, supporting biodiversity and safeguarding the waters that surround us, they embody the future of regenerative agriculture.
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