Tamarack Farms Quinoa Cover Crop
Ryan Pengelly, Tamarack Farms
To demonstrate the use of cover cropping strategies
In 2018, quinoa was planted with cover crops (see Table 1). Insect damage (especially from stem borer) resulted in no quinoa yield in 2018. The cover crops, however, established well. It is uncertain how the cover crops would have performed if the quinoa crop had performed well, increasing competition for water and sunlight. Additional research is needed to determine the performance of annual and perennial cover crops planted with quinoa.
Cover cropping is of growing interest to many Manitoba farmers. Cover crops perform a number of significant functions for the soil, including but not limited to controlling soil erosion after the harvest of the cash crop, increasing soil nutrients, and improving water infiltration.