Gabe Brown is north of Bismarck ND. Average 15in precip a year and most of that is snowfall. I think his example would be spot on for you guys.
In ohio here is much more precip, my problem with times of no rain is more so the clay soil drying up to cement and cracking.
Yes, I agree on these basics: Carbon versus Nitrogen
My “winter” cover crops today based on a 50/50 ratio: 50% of cereals (oat, rye), 50% of legumes (faba bean, vetch, pea)
Sorry I didn’t and won’t have time to tell more about this approach. Yes please listen to Gabe Brown (or to Ver de Terre Production for the French speaking people) to learn more on this topic
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This 50/50 ratio is based on a preliminary assesment of the fertility: extremely low, with nearly no life in the soil, no water kept in the summer (mainly sand with some silt and no clay at all) , and no carbon left in the soil too…
So I will go from this 50/50 ratio to a 90/10 C/N within the next few years, as others in my place have done, coming from this very low fertility point: as fertility enhances you can and will need to put more cereals in the mix, soil biology will recover progressively
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