Best Selling Game Cover

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.

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 blend of three varieties of maize with different maturity dates to provide effective cover and feed for the duration of the season.

• A blend of early, intermediate and late varieties.
• Varieties selected for good early vigour and standing ability.
• Treated with Redigo M (or equivalent Fungicide) 
• Sowing rate: 45,000 seeds per acre. Packsize: 1 acre (45,000 seeds).

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

Reed Canary Grass (Phalaris arundinacea) is similar to Canary Grass (Aquatica) however it is much hardier.

• A perennial species which can last for 10 years
• Suitable for exposed northern sites - good frost and winter hardiness
• Strong stems and thick leaves provide reliable cover for ground-nesting birds
• Similar to conventional canary grass with improved hardiness 
• Inoculated with rhizobia
• Sowing rate: 2.5kg per acre Pack Size: 2.5kg

Vittasso Brown Mustard is a highly versatile game cover crop - easy to establish, quick growing and winter hardy.

• Sow from late July onwards to produce a dense, leafy canopy.
• Winter-hardy, easy to establish, cost-effective.
• Can be sown as a rescue crop for failed spring sowings.
• Can grow up to 1.5 metres dependent on sowing period.
• Sowing rate: 2kg per acre (5kg per ha).

White mustard is an ever popular choice for game cover. Very easy to establish and grows rapidly, providing cover until the first winter frosts. 

• Can be sown alone or as a companion to other species
• Ideal for early cover, killed off by frost will create shelter for birds
• Quick growing - ideal for patching failed spring cover crops
• Also opular as a green manure crop
• Suitable for Countryside Stewardship (CSS): AB2 
• Sowing rate: 15kg / ha

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
• White Millet, Red Millet, Buckwheat, Sorghum, Kale, Sunflower, White Mustard, Forage Rape, Gold of Pleasure, Phacelia, Quinoa
• Sowing Rate: 10kg per acre. Packsize: 25kg

Use this 2 year mixture for CAHL2 (2024/2025) and AHL2 (2023) Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) and AB9 Countryside Stewardship (Winter Bird Food), providing grain-bearing plants for farmland birds, especially Grey Partridges, through autumn and winter for two seasons. Excellent feed and cover for game birds throughout the shooting season.

• Farmland birds eat the seeds from October and beneficial insects including bees and butterflies use the flowers during the summer
• Sow in spring or early summer for optimum establishment
• Re-sow every two years of your agreement
• Suitable for Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI): CAHL2 AHL2 
• Suitable for Countryside Stewardship (CSS): AB9  
• Contains: 50% Spring Barley, 30% Spring Triticale, 7% White Millet, 5% Linseed, 5% Fodder Radish, 3% Kale
• Sowing rate: 40-50kg/ha. Pack size: 20kg

Use this mixture for CAHL2 (2024/2025) and AHL2 (2023) Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) and AB9 Countryside Stewardship (Winter Bird Food), to provide important food resources for farmland birds, during autumn and winter.

• Farmland birds eat the seeds from October and beneficial insects including bees and butterflies use the flowers during the summer
• Sow in spring or early summer for optimum establishment - suitable for later sowings and re-sowing of failed crops, where permitted
• Re-sow in each year of your agreement
• Suitable for Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI): CAHL2 AHL2
• Suitable for Countryside Stewardship (CSS): AB9
• Contains: 35% Buckwheat, 30% Linseed, 15% White Mustard, 10% Oil Radish, 5% Brown Mustard, 5% Phacelia
• Sowing rate: 8-10kg/ha (added to c.40kg cereals) or 15-20kg/ha (as a standalone mix). Pack size: 20kg

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.

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.