All Game Cover Seed Crops

The Traditional Game Cover Mixture combines a broad range of species which will give a full season of cover and a supply of food.

• A tried and tested mixture of species that provide feed and cover
• Sunflowers provide an attractive splash of colour
• Differing seed sizes mean it is best to broadcast rather than drilled
• Game Maize (treated), White Millet, Red Millet, Buckwheat, Sorghum, Kale, Sunflower, White Mustard, Forage Rape, Gold of Pleasure, Phacelia
• Sowing Rate: 10kg per acre. Packsize: 10kg

White millet is a popular choice as it provides cover and a source of food. Particularly attractive to English and French partridges.

• Produces a plentiful supply of small seeds for birds
• Often sown in conjunction with maize or kale
• It is vigorous and will grow to a height of up to 90cm
• Thicker leaved and higher seed production than red millet
• Sowing rate: 5kg acre.

Thousand Head Kale is a popular, tried and tested variety with good standing ability and winter hardiness.

• Thousand Head is a slender stemmed variety bearing leafy foliage. 
• Excellent winter hardiness providing forage for feeding after Christmas. 
• Can supply approximately 90 tonnes/ha of green forage matter.
• Sowing rate: 2kg per acre.

Red Millet is best sown alongside other crops to provide a source of food which will help to keep birds in the covers. 

• Will produce a plentiful supply of small seeds for birds
• Often sown in conjunction with maize or kale
• Red millet is earlier maturing than white millet
• Susceptible to frost
• Sowing rate: 5kg acre.

Japanese Reed Millet is a stronger and hardier member of the millet family when compared to Red and White Millet.

• Stronger plant than others of the millet family
• Improved winter hardiness
• Mix with white millet to provide an excellent cover and feed crop
• Sowing rate: 5kg per acre.

A mix of white, red and Japanese reed millet. The white millet provides a source of food  whilst the Japanese reed millet provides cover.

• The strong reed millet plant provides long season cover for flushing
• White and red millet provides feed to hold birds in the cover
• Winter hardy allowing it to be used through the shooting season
• 40% White Millet, 40% Red Millet, 20% Japanese Reed Millet
• Sowing rate: 5kg per acre. Pack Size: 10kg

Fodder Radish is a quick growing cover crop which scavenges nitrogen, produces large amount of organic matter and improves soil structure.

• Quick growing, produces high organic matter in short periods
• Suppresses weeds and deep roots benefit soil structure
• Ideal as a green manure crop sown in early autumn
• Effective as a standalone green cover or in mixtures
• Sowing rate: 15-25kg / ha

Very popular for use in potato rotations to control soil borne pests and can be incorporated into moist soil to maximise biofumigation.

• Green manure crop with biofumigant properties
• Winter-hardy, easy to establish, cost effective
• Reduces wireworm and PCN populations and their effect on potatoes
• Suppresses Verticillium wilt and Sclerotinia in potato production
• Sowing Rate: 5kg / ha
• VITTASSO Brown Mustard Brochure

Ethiopian mustard is a fast growing frost hardy, brassica which produces a dense leafy canopy and acts as an excellent weed suppressor.

• Produces a dense leafy canopy to supress weeds
• Fast and easy to establish providing rapid ground cover
• Frost hardy cover crop ideal for use in later sowings
• Can tollerate and improve poor soil conditions 
• Sowing rate: 5kg / ha

Quinoa will provide cover and a plentiful supply of seed making it a popular crop for holding partridges, pheasants and attracting seed eating song birds.

• Produces a number of seeds to provide a valuable source of food
• Also attractive to many species of seed-eating song birds
• Often grown with kale as it begins to collapse with first frosts
• Available ready blended with Kale, see Overdrive Seed Mixture
• Sowing rate: 2kg per acre. Pack size: 2 kg

A new variety with the potential to deliver high dry matter yields making it and ideal choice for dairy, beef or lamb producers.

• A taller stemmed variety with excellent resistance to lodging.
• High leaf to stem ratio.
• Available untreated or treated with Start-uP & Sepiret.
• Sowing rate: 2kg per acre.

Buckwheat is a fast-growing annual crop, with a dense canopy for excellent weed suppression. Buckwheat scavenges phosphates, helping to reduce leaching. 

• Rapid establishment and growth make it an ideal short-season crop
• A dense canopy works efficiently as an excellent weed suppressant
• Nectar-rich, helping boost pollinators and other beneficial insects
• Scavenges phosphates from the soil for future crops
• Sowing rate: 50kg / ha

Caledonian Kale is the first variety to be bred with resistance to club root. A taller variety which gives easier access for birds underneath the leaf canopy. 

• Taller variety to allow birds to move freely under the leaf canopy.
• Club root resistant, can be sown on sites suffering from brassica sickness.
• Available untreated or treated with Start-up & Sepiret.
• Specifically bred for UK conditions. High germination and early vigour.
• Sowing rate: 2kg per acre.

Canary Grass (Phalaris aquatica) gives excellent long term nesting cover for partridges and pheasants.

• A perennial species which can last for 10 years.
• Perfect for poor quality sites where annual sowing is difficult or impractical.
• Can grow to 60cm in first year and over 150cm in following years.
• Requires sowing in wide rows to prevent it from becoming to thick
• Sowing rate: 2.5 kg/acre Pack Size: 2.5kg.

Cocker will provide a full season of cover as well as an excellent supply of seeds to keep the birds close to the covers.

• Suitable for Environmental Stewardship Schemes.
• Full season cover for up to two years.
• Butisan herbicide tolerant.
• Contains; Kale, Mustard, Fodder Radish and Linseed.
• Sowing rate: 16kg per hectare. Pack size: 8kg. 

Short stemmed, sturdy, broad-leaved and has a substantial seed head. Its shorter growing habit is ideal for exposed sites.

• Average height 1 - 1.25m.
• Very good standing power due to short growth habit.
• Ideal cover providing a warm holding area for birds.
• Sowing rate 12kg per acre.

Dwarf sunflowers are a shorter stemmed hybrid variety which provide better standing ability over conventional varieties.

• A stiff stemmed, shorter hybrid variety
• An effective feed crop for shoots in the southern half of the UK
• May require 'swiping' down to allow game birds to access the seeds
• Frequently sown as part of a game mix or with kale
• Sowing rate: 5kg acre. Pack size: 5kg

This fastest growing rye, POWERGREEN is a high yielding variety which can grow at the lower temperatures, making it ideal for late sowing or early harvests.

• Fast initial development, high tillering and high output
• Good growth in cold conditions, excellent winter hardiness
• High nitrogen uptake throughout autumn
• Sow in autumn for incorporation and use in the spring
• Sowing rate: 150kg / ha

Giant Sorghum is a cross between Sorghum and Sudan Grass Hybrid. It can grow over two metres tall providing excellent cover.

• Produces warm and dense cover that can grow 2-3 metres tall.
• Deep roots help it to withstand drought conditions
• Works well as a windbreak protect more vulnerable crops
• Sorghum is useful for flushing as it encourages the birds to lift above the cover
• Sowing rate: 12kg per acre.

A crop well suited to poorer and nutrient deficient soils. Fast maturing, free-branching plant producing seed attractive to birds.

• Useful mixture for exposed areas.
• Sow April/May for use from September onwards.
• Available mixed with Triticale, Barley and Linseed, see Partridge Mix.
• Annual specie providing cover up until Christmas.
• Sowing rate: 5kg per acre. Pack size: 5kg.

Golden Retriever game cover seed mixture will provide a full season of cover as well as steady supply of seeds to hold the birds in the covers.

• Excellent holding potential for pheasants and partridges.
• Tried and tested reliable mixture.
• Stomp Aqua herbicide tolerant. 
• Contains; Dwarf Sorghum, Dwarf Sunflowers, Fodder Radish and Millet blend.
• Sowing rate: 24kg per hectare. Pack size: 12.5kg. 

Goldeneye kale is a giant type bred for the game cover market, selected for the optimum combination of height and leaf production. 

• Leafy top, strong stem, good winter hardiness and good tolerance to disease, making it the ideal choice for game cover use
• Goldeneye achieves a higher vigour score than Caledonian kale and better club root tolerance.
• Sowing rate: 3kg per acre.

Very tall variety with excellent winter hardiness. A branching, umbrella shaped canopy creates plenty of room underneath for pheasants and partridges.

• Good winter hardiness and excellent feeding quality
• Fresh yields 15% higher than Caledonian and 10% higher than Bittern
• Tried and tested for many years and is still very popular today
• Sowing rate: 2kg per acre.

Intermediate Sorghum as the name suggests grows to a height between the Giant and Dwarf varieties. 

• Grows to a height of around 1.5 metres.
• Useful as a windbreak around other game cover crops
• Tall cover provides birds with protection from overhead predators
• Similar to maize but does not produce a cob
• Sowing rate: 10kg per acre.