In areas that do not have the necessary infrastructure or are too large to maintain a regulated water table, a mix of wet tolerant crops can be used. Suitable crops include Sedges (Carex sp.), Cattail (Typha sp.), Canarygrass (Phalaris arundinacea L.), Reed (Phragmites australis), Alder (Alnus glutinosa). Average water levels for these species can be between 0 – 20 cm belowground but pronounced periods of inundation are tolerable and sometimes even beneficial. The extensive use of these mixed grasslands provides a moderate GHG reduction, as well as substantial biodiversity benefits and some biomass production. Using biomass from peatlands is a suitable business model for meadows, fens and peatland which were already managed extensively or abandoned. This also applies to peatlands within nature areas or in buffer zones surrounding them. Biomass production from peatlands can also involve the use of wood from short rotation coppice. The local hydrology will mostly determine what type of mixed crop will be used. With relatively stable water table close to the surface, a sphagnum grassland can be maintained. High water tables can sustain a mixed reed bed, while lower water table are best suited for a mixed grassland with the potential for livestock grazing.

If farmers are already involved in the management of rewetted peatland sites, current business models can be optimised rather then newly invented, which makes change more attractive. Additionally, farmers already managing land owned by the government or NGOs might be more willing to change management practices. They could act as examples for farmers with privately owned land. Whether it will be interesting for farmers is also subject to the total area per plant species or crop as for some applications of produce monocultures or a high level of purity is prerequisite.

Compared to other paludiculture practices, mixed crops have a lower water table and thus mitigate less of the carbon dioxide emissions from peat oxidation. Since the mixed crop transport methane through their aerenchyma, mixed crop paludiculture does emit some methane but not as much as in reed or cattail paludiculture. This all adds up to annual emissions of about 8 t CO2e per hectare, which is still a very substantial decrease compared to drainage-based agriculture (Tanneberger et al., 2022; Liu et al., 2023).

The higher water table and fen specific species create a typical fen habitat. Since high nutrient loads are not necessary, the habitat quality is higher than in Typha monoculture (Liu et al., 2023). The periodic mowing leads to more light availability and through that a more diverse flora community (Tanneberger et al., 2022). Like with other paludiculture crops, mosaic mowing of mixed crop paludiculture creates a great variability in habitat and a greater fauna diversity (Tanneberger et al., 2022). 

The different options for crops in these sites allows farmers to produce a wide range of products with their biomass and be flexible in changing their business model.

Some possible uses include: