Increasing Crop Diversity with Covers & Co. Co-founder Owen Taylor

Owen Taylor runs a 200-head commercial Angus cow/calf operation with his parents, Mark and Brenda, and his wife and daughters. Owen and his wife, Teauna, were married in 2006 and have since welcomed 4 daughters; Kinley, Macey, Scarlett and Arewn. Their family moved to the farm in October 2007. Owen’s days are filled with activities including volleyball, golf, curling, hockey and figure skating. Both he and his wife love watching their girls grow on the farm.

They start calving in mid-April on stockpiled grass and rotationally graze their cattle herd throughout the grazing season. For the last few years, Owen has been selling the steer calves in mid-November and keeping the heifer calves to breed the following summer.

Owen’s dad, Mark, started experimenting with seed blends more than a decade ago. Mostly oats and peas for the purpose of livestock feed. They started trying more complex blends with limited results. They were using 6-8 species but only ever saw 2-3 species in any amount. Now, they use Covers & Co. blends for silage bales, dry bales, mob grazing, early spring grazing, fall grazing and swath grazing. They have used no synthetic fertilizer on their farm for 4 years.

In this episode, Owen introduces us to Covers & Co. A seed supply business built in the small community of Crystal City, MB by founders who believe wholeheartedly in the power of regenerative agriculture, the importance of sharing knowledge and in supporting small communities. 

Owen shares information about why intercropping, growing cover crops, and growing diverse crops is so important, as well as how the use of cover crops and plant diversity can reduce input costs, extend the grazing season and improve soil health.

We discuss many elements of the Covers & Co. website, which hosts a variety of resources, including the Intercrop Library Resources, information on past and current on farm trials. The Small Community Fund, Farm Panel Discussion Webinars and the Soil Health Blog. The link for their website can be found below.

We also discuss where a farmer should start when thinking about trying intercropping or cover cropping for the first time and seed blends currently available at Covers & Co. and what is coming up for them in the future. 

For more information, please visit their website: https://www.coversandco.ca

Or follow them on:

Facebook at: facebook.com/covercropcompany

Instagram at: @covercropcompany

Twitter at: @covers_co

Youtube at: youtube.com/c/covers_co

Email them at: info@coversandco.ca

Every field has its own unique growing conditions and MBFI encourages all producers to seek feedback on their crop rotations and fertilizer recommendations from a Professional Agrologist certified in agronomy. 

The research programs and daily operations at MBFI would not be possible without the funding from the Province of Manitoba, Government of Canada, and Canadian Agricultural Partnership, as well as the partnership with Manitoba Agriculture, Manitoba Beef Producers (MBP), Ducks Unlimited Canada (DUC) and the Manitoba Forage and Grassland Association (MFGA). 

We encourage you to follow MBFI on social media, or check out the website for more information on project findings and results, upcoming events and more!

Instagram: @MBBeefandForage

Facebook: @MBBeefandForage

Twitter: @MBBeefandForage

Website: www.mbfi.ca 

Email address: information@mbfi.ca 

Mary-Jane’s Phone Number: 431-255-0011