Inexpensive Cover Crops, Midwest - Zone 6b?

What is the cheapest non-GMO (maybe even organic?) cover crop you know of?  We bulldozed about 7 acres of scrub trees (reclaiming an old field) last year to put in a house, electricity, and a well. Of course we lost much of the topsoil in the process, exposing clay and rock. We want to get to the point where we are producing much of our food on our property, but to do that well, we need to improve and keep the soil (roughly half is flatish, the rest is sloped.) I'm not sure what equipment is available to us, so I'm operating off the assumption that for this year at least we'll do most of the work by hand and possibly use a brush hog to cut the cover crop (if it's the sort that would benefit from cutting). I'm not opposed to planting a perennial crop and letting it naturalize and hold and build soil until we have time and resources to expand the garden. My one concern about that is the neighbor's livestock on the other side of the fence. Whatever we plant can't be invasive or toxic to cattle or horses in the green form and preferably isn't so attractive they are constantly breaking down fences to get at it!

Katie said, "What is the cheapest non-GMO (maybe even organic?) cover crop you know of?

I may be wrong though I feel an organic seed company would also be non-GMO.

This is our seed grip with reviews on different seed companies:

https://permies.com/wiki/seed-reviews

Most of the cover crops I recommend are for winter covers though I found this article from Mother Earth News which recommends buckwheat, cowpeas, and a few others:

https://www.motherearthnews.com/organic-gardening/summer-cover-crops-zm0z14aszsto/

I vote for buckwheat. It is an amazing crop and wouldn't hurt the neighbors livestock. It's considered a superfood, too. I grow microgreens commercially and one of the ones I grow is buckwheat. The extensive root system is makes is very impressive! I see why it would be considered green manure. The other wonderful thing about buckwheat is how hardy and non-finicky it is. I realize we are talking about completely different contexts, that is microgreens vs. growing large areas in one's garden, yard, or acreage with it, but the buckwheat doesn't care if I seed it in acidic soil, alkaline soil, whether the air is a bit too hot, or a bit too cold, it grows, and grows well. And you can harvest it, too, and add it to salads, stir fries, smoothies, etc.. It has a very mild flavor, with just a touch of lemon flavor to it. It is also a complete protein, providing all 8 of the essential amino acids that our own bodies cannot manufacture on its own, and has other good things as well. It is not a wheat, of course, not even a true grain, but rather a pseudo-grain, same as amaranth and quinoa. Buckwheat is amazing!

I know most cover crops are planted in the fall/ winter so I'm bucking the trend to want to try to get something in the ground in the spring. I did read somewhere that many cover crops can be planted in the spring as well just most people don't think about that as a possibility because they want to plant their regular crops then (me too, I'm just not up for planting 7 acres yet!)

Thank you for the seed company suggestions! Does anyone know if there is a place where I can get the 700 or so lbs of seed in bulk? Most places only sell up to 50lb quantities before the savings stop.

I think my next step is to go to my county extension agent and ask some questions, just trying to figure out what questions to ask!

Katie Nicholson wrote:Thank you for the seed company suggestions! Does anyone know if there is a place where I can get the 700 or so lbs of seed in bulk? Most places only sell up to 50lb quantities before the savings stop.

I think my next step is to go to my county extension agent and ask some questions, just trying to figure out what questions to ask!

For this information, I would ask the county extension agent or the local farm supply.

I am sure there are bulk seed companies that sell to big farmers I just don't know how to find them.

Those farmers may buy their seed in a 50 lb sack due to ease of management or they may have it delivered in bulk to a storage bin as you see in those metal silos.

There was one of those types of operations near me though they went out of business.