catch crop

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Crop that is inserted between two principal crops in a rotation in order to provide some quick livestock feed or soil improvement at a time when the land would otherwise be lying idle.

For example, in the gap between harvesting a crop of winter-sown wheat and sowing a spring variety of barley, an additional catch crop of turnips or ryegrass can be produced for animal feed in the late winter period when other green fodder is scarce. When the catch crop is ploughed under, the succeeding spring crop benefits from the improvement to the soil.

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