Cover Cropping with Camelina

Camelina can be grown as a cover crop either alone or more commonly as part of a cover crop mix. Mostly winter camelina is used as a cover crop for a fall to spring cover, but spring camelina can also be used depending on climate and seed availablity.

Benefits

• Nutrient retention: Camelina has been shown to hold onto nitrogen in a system especially as an overwintered cover crops.
• Water Holding:
• Biodiversity effect: Camelina will bloom earlier than most other flowering species so provides an early nectar source in spring.
• Compaction remediation: Camelina has one main tap root that has been shown to help with compacted soils.
• Drought tolerance: Camelina is very drought tolerant once established so can work in places where dry periods are a potential problem for other species.
• Other benefits: There are many other benefits that make camelina a suitable cover crop. It can grow well in the shade so good in a cover crop mix. It grows well in low fertility environments. It is also good at helping control erosion.

Considerations

• Establishment and Winter Kill: Camelina as a cover crop needs to be seeded early enough to establish but not so early that it bolts before dorminacy in the winter. Varying amounts of winter kill have been reproted across many studies. Climate does seem to play a role and warming and cooling is indicated as source of winter kill.
• Potential Weed: There has been little reports of Camelina establishing as a weed but the possiblity does exist due to its early bloom time and seed maturation. So this does need to be monitored.
• Termination: Camelina has been sucessfully terminated with various chemicals used for cover crop termination. MEchanical methods can also be used. There is indication that brassicas can be terminated with a roller crimper if done post flowering with little regrowth, so camelina could work in a no-till situation.