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also have to cover their own costs themselves, improved water infiltration, better soil quality,
including the expense of cover crops. nitrogen capture and improved management of
Smith said that he pays for most of his own some pests. Additionally, Granatstein said they
cover crop costs on his rented ground. Tesdell, cost less than annuals because you only need to
on the other hand, shares the cover crop costs seed them once and they will reestablish them-
with his renter. selves in the years following.
“I think the landowner needs to step up and pay “Some of the benefits you don’t see until several
for some initial costs,” Tesdell said. years go by because they’re changes in soil qual-
ity that take a while to happen and maybe are
Perennial .cover .crops .find .home .in . more subtle to express,” Granatstein said.
orchards, .vineyards One barrier to cover crops does appear in Cal-
ifornia nut orchards that use large vacuums to
Most of the cover crops that are currently being harvest the nuts, Granatstein said. If the alley-
used in row crop operations are annuals, which way only consists of dirt, the dust that is sucked
means they have to be reseeded every year. But up will blow out of the back of the large vac-
perennials, such as grasses and legumes, are uum machines. But plants in the alleyway could
used in orchards and vinyards, and with further plug up the vacuum, creating an extra obstacle
research, some experts say they could have a during the nut harvest.
place alongside field crops, too.
Another problem for cover crops in orchards
In Pacific Northwest orchards, perennial grasses is the possibility that they will attract some
like perennial ryegrass and red fescue have been unwanted pests. Granatstein said nearly all
used as cover crops for decades. legumes are attractive to voles, a major pest for
According to David Granatstein, a sustainable fruit producers. Legumes also draw concern
agriculture specialist at the Washington State about lygus bugs and leafhoppers, the latter of
University Center for Sustaining Agriculture which can spread the X-disease (Little Cherry
and Natural Resources, producers began to see Virus) to cherry, peach, nectarine, almond, plum
the value of planting grasses between rows of and chokecherry orchards.
trees in the ‘30s and ‘40s, after they began notic- “If you’ve got legumes in the orchard, the
ing issues with soil degradation and runoff that leafhoppers feed on the legume, pick up the
bare soils caused. diseased organism, fly to the tree, suck on the
So, to fix the issues, they began planting tree, inject it into the tree, and now you’ve got
grass between rows and in many Washington problems,” said Granatstein. “So it’s really set
orchards, the practice stuck. back any interest in alternatives in terms of the
“Here in Washington, people were already grow- legumes — in fact, in terms of most things.”
ing this perennial grass,” Granatstein said. “They Vineyards are also primary users of peren-
didn’t consider it a cover crop in the sense that nial cover crops. Patty Skinkis, a professor and
annual crop farmers do. It was just, they planted viticulture extension specialist at Oregon State
it, mowed it a few times a year and that’s about University, said it’s common to see perennial
all they did. They sort of ignored it.” ryegrasses and fescues growing in the alleyways
The potential benefits of growing perennial between rows of grapes in Oregon.
cover crops in orchards are similar to the ben- “We’re on hillsides, so it’s a big problem to have
efits seen nationwide with annual cover crops: a vineyard floor that’s not got stability, mainly
24 www.Agri-Pulse.com
