Why Grow buckwheat

Buckwheat ( Fagopyrum esculentum), originated in China and is now grown around the world.

The triangular seed, once hulled, is known as a groat.  Groats are used whole or milled into flour. Hulls can be salvaged for use in pillows.

  A short season crop, buckwheat is normally planted well into June in Manitoba. 

Emerging seedlings are very frost susceptible so care must be taken to ensure emergence is post frost risk. .  

 Buckwheat has a branching root system with a primary taproot that is effective at nutrient uptake, most notably phosphate. This capability has made buckwheat a popular choice for green manure and cover crop use.  

Input costs for buckwheat are significantly lower due to limited fertility requirements and lower herbicide use. Insect and disease pressures are rare. Less expensive but beneficial cultural practices are employed to maximize production.

Buckwheat flowers are attractive to many insects, many of which can be important in improving yield whether or not managed pollinators have access to the flowers. 

Honey bees are enthusiastic foragers of buckwheat flowers, and a highly desirable dark honey is produced by their efforts. 

Buckwheat contributes to the sustainability of a regular crop rotation by improving soil health while breaking disease and insect cycles, finding few common hosts in the cereal, oilseed and pulse crops.  

Buckwheat spreads out time demands on machinery and frees up fiscal resources for other crops in the rotation.