cover crop

American  

noun

1. a crop, usually a legume, planted to keep nutrients from leaching, soil from eroding, and land from weeding over, as during the winter.

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cover crop British  

noun

1. a crop planted between main crops to prevent leaching or soil erosion or to provide green manure

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Etymology

Origin of cover crop

First recorded in 1905–10

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

cover crop

There’s the crawling vines of the beans, the cover crop of the squash grown below, and the shade being produced by the cornstalks.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 18, 2024

He began growing the grain as cover crop seed in 1994, partially because his property is considered “highly erodible land.”

From Salon ● Jan. 18, 2024

Elmore seeds cover crops by plane before harvesting his cash crop, but cover crop growth has been spotty, not worth the $40-per-acre cost.

From Seattle Times ● Nov. 2, 2023

Swiss-headquartered agrichemicals and seeds group Syngenta began offering a cover crop seed mixture in Spain this year.

From Reuters ● Sep. 14, 2023

If land is not intended for an immediate crop, put a cover crop on it.

From The First Book of Farming by Charles Landon Goodrich