The pros and cons of using clearfield barley as a cover crop when sowing serradella pastures

Serradella is a useful pasture species on the sandy soils of the West Midlands. But it has two major weaknesses: weed control (particularly radish and capeweed) and a lack of early biomass production. By sowing serradella with a Clearfield Barley variety (Scope or Spartacus) and using Clearfield (Imidazolinone) herbicides both of these weaknesses can be overcome.The aim of this demonstration was to highlight the pro’s and con’s of using Clearfield Barley as a cover crop when sowing serradella pastures.

塞拉代拉草（Serradella）是英国西米德兰兹地区沙质土壤上极具应用价值的牧草品种。但该品种存在两大核心缺陷：一是杂草防控难度较大，尤以野萝卜（radish）与海角草（capeweed）为甚；二是早期生物量积累不足。通过将塞拉代拉草与Clearfield大麦（Clearfield Barley）品种（Scope或Spartacus）混播，并施用Clearfield系列咪唑啉酮类（Imidazolinone）除草剂，即可同时克服上述两大缺陷。本次示范试验的核心目标，是阐明在播种塞拉代拉草牧草地时，采用Clearfield大麦作为覆盖作物的利弊得失。