ORGANIC NITROGEN- FIXING COVER CROPS
ORGANIC NITROGEN- FIXING COVER CROPS
Organic Hairy Vetch *
• Fast-growing winter annual
• Great fall-planted green manure crop
• Plant with a nurse crop to ensure winter survival ( oats , winter rye , etc .)
• Reaches full bloom in early June
• Good hardiness ; MN production
• Seed 25-35 lbs / A alone , 15-20 lbs / A in a mixture
Organic Purple Bounty Hairy Vetch
• Variety selected specifically for earlier flowering in the spring ( up to two weeks earlier vs . VNS )
• Earlier flowering ideal for organic no-till operations and allows for more rotational flexibility
• Developed by the USDA breeding facility in Beltsville , MD
• Plant Aug . 1 – Sept . 15
• Seed 25-30 lbs / A alone or 15-20 lbs / A in a mixture
Organic Common Vetch
• Viney legume that is an annual in the Upper Midwest with compound leaves and pea-like flowers
• Puts on good growth as a cover crop if seeded early in the fall , good candidate for aerial application
• Less winterhardy than Hairy Vetch , will winterkill in the Upper Midwest
• Good forage quality and widely adapted
• Plant Aug . 1 – Sept . 15
• Seed 60-75 lbs / A alone or 20-40 lbs / A in a mixture
Organic Yellow Blossom Clover *
• Tall-growing biennial clover closely related to alfalfa with high biomass and N-fixation potential
• Very drought tolerant and very winter-hardy , good scavenger of P , K and other nutrients
• Best plowdown legume for lighter or sandy soils
• Can produce 80 to 200 lbs . N / acre
• Seed 8-12 lbs / A alone or 2-5 lbs / A in a mixture
• Inoculated with Pre-Vail ™
OMRI-APPROVED SUPPLEMENTS
Call for current prices and availability . Kelp Meal Redmond Salt Diatomaceous Earth
Organic Mammoth Red Clover *
• Single-cut red clover most frequently used as a cover crop or plowdown
• Excellent choice for underseeding small grains in the spring , frost seeding into winter grains or fall seeded into established crops
• Minimal recovery after cutting . Avoid droughty soils .
• Does not bloom in seeding year
• Seed 8-12 lbs / A alone or 2-5 lbs / A in a mixture
• Inoculated with Pre-Vail ™
Organic Austrian Winter Peas *
• Viney , fall-seeded winter annual legume
• Excellent green manure plowdown
• Can produce 1-2 tons / acre dry matter and fix 90-150 lbs . N / acre
• Not reliably winter hardy in the Upper Midwest ; plant with a nurse crop for best chance of winter survival
• Plant Aug . 1 – Sept . 15
• Seed 50-100 lbs / A alone or 25-50 lbs / A in a mixture
Chickling Vetch *
Untreated , Non-GMO
• Viney , spring seeded cover crop legume bred for plowdown and N production
• Very tolerant to frost and drought . Good performance on lighter soils , excellent moisture efficiency
• 8-10 weeks of growth can produce 80-100 lbs . N / acre
• Suitable for cut forage but do not feed the seed to livestock
• Seed 60-70 lbs / A or do not broadcast
White Sweet Lupin
Untreated , Non-GMO
• Cool-season cover crop legume with upright showy flower and hollow stems
• Aggressive taproot , builds soil structure deep in the profile
• Lupins make immobile P , Mn and other nutrients available to the following crop
• Easy to control by mechanical tillage , excellent nitrogen fixation potential
• Avoid heavy clay soils or waterlogged soils
• Plant right away in the spring and terminate at early bloom stage (~ June )
• Seed 70-120 lb / A alone
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