Albert Lea Seed - Celebrating 90 Years in the Seed Business

Store hours:

Monday-Friday: 8am-5pm
Saturday: 8am-4pm

Organic Biomass/Weed Suppression

Organic Winter Rye*

  • The most winter hardy fall-planted grain
  • Excellent competitor with weeds and produces lots of biomass for green manure
  • Will germinate down to 35F & performs better on lower fertility soil than other cover crops
  • Can tolerate sandy, droughty or occasionally flooded soils
  • Excellent feed value as a forage
  • Can be grazed by livestock well into the fall

Organic Tillage Radish®


  • Improved oilseed radish bred for long taproot
  • Can reduce compaction/hardpan, build soil tilth, and mellow heavier clay soils
  • Excellent weed suppressor
  • Good nutrient scavenger
  • Plant 4-10 weeks before a killing frost
  • Seed 8-10 lbs/acre

Organic Buckwheat*

  • Broadleaved summer annual most often used as a green manure crop
  • Fast establishment, thrives in poor soils
  • An excellent weed suppressor and soil builder
  • Can produce 2-3 tons of dry matter in 6-8 weeks
  • Grain matures in 10-12 weeks and can yield 800-1,500 lbs/acre
  • Not frost tolerant
  • Seed 75-100 lbs/acre after last frost date

Phacelia* - New

Untreated, Non-GMO
  • Non-leguminous, annual broadleaf plant
  • Excellent cold and drought tolerance (better than Buckwheat)
  • Widely used as cover crop and bee forage in Europe
  • Produces abundant biomass and conditions soil, leaving excellent structure and aggregation
  • Utilizes excess N in the soil to prevent leaching
  • Will winterkill in the Upper Midwest
  • Seed must be planted; avoid broadcasting
  • Drill 7-12 lbs/acre at 1/8-1/4 in. depth

Fall Green Manure Mix I

Untreated, Non-GMO
  • Blend of oats, field peas, and Tillage Radish® designed for maximum green manure
  • Mix will winterkill in the Upper Midwest
  • Excellent fit after corn silage, small grains, sweet corn, early soybeans, or vegetables
  • Widely adaptable
  • Seed 75-125 lbs/acre from Aug. 15 - Sept. 15

Fall Green Manure Mix II - New!

Untreated, Non-GMO
  • Blend of crimson clover, annual ryegrass, and Tillage Radish® designed for quick cover, N fixation, and optimum biomass production
  • Mix will winterkill in the Upper Midwest
  • Excellent fit after corn silage, small grains, sweet corn, early soybeans, or vegetables
  • Can be broadcast or aerially applied
  • Seed 15-20 lbs/acre from Aug. 15 - Sept. 15