Summer Cover Crops that Beat the Heat

Which summer grasses and legumes grow best in the heat? Depending on the purpose of your cover crop and the benefits you’re looking for, you’ll want to consider if a single species or a mixture will get you the most out of your cover crop. We collected some of our best warm-season covers that are widely adapted to most soil, can handle low to medium traffic, and require low water usage.

Plant these covers this summer to provide nitrogen and organic matter to your soil, reduce erosion, and protect your crops from the heat.

Sorghum-Sudangrass, Wondergraze

This warm-season annual crop is a hybrid of sorghum and sudangrass. This variety grows up to 5-6ft tall and is finer stemmed when compared to forage sorghum. If you are looking for a last-minute crop before fall planting, look no further than this particular product.

Leafy 22 Hybrid Pearl Millet

This cover is an improved hybrid pearl millet variety with excellent seeding vigor. This forage option offers more strength and durability than the average millet forage due to the shorter growth of this variety.

Buckwheat

Buckwheat is a fast-growing crop that is used for various uses, from food crops to cover crops for improving soil health. This broadleaf plant blooms from brown, irregularly shaped seeds around the size of a soybean.

Red Ripper Cowpea

Red Ripper Cowpea is a warm-season, drought-tolerant annual legume that is widely adaptable to hot climates and most soils. Plant this hardy cover crop to restore organic matter and nitrogen to enrich the soil.

German R Strain Millet

This millet variety is an annual warm-season grass that is commonly used for forage, hay, and grazing due to its fast-growing nature. This variety produces slender, leafy stems with cylindrical, compact heads growing 24+ inches high.

Hegari Sorghum

This white-seeded sorghum is widely used for grain and forage to livestock and wildlife. Hegari is a drought-tolerant, warm-season plant that grows up to 60 inches and produces palatable, thick, green stalks offering erosion control to the land.

Quality results with Curtis and Curtis

With the Curtis and Curtis Seed team on your side, you’ll always have clarity on your purchase and planting directions. We have decades of experience in the seed industry and have supported countless customers to see successful results. Ready to get started?

Schedule a consultation with our team to beat the heat with cover crops this season!