Legumes
Sunn Hemp
Sunn hemp is an erect, tall growing warm-season legume with an anchoring tap root. Sunn hemp is a tropical plant so it thrives in the heat. It's deep taproot helps it access water and nutrients deep in the soil profile and works with bacteria to fix nitrogen. The leaves are high in protein for grazing and especially popular with small ruminants like sheep, goats, and deer, but cattle will also eat the leaves. It's long growing season also makes it a great addition to grazing mixes. Due to toxicity concerns we do NOT recommend grazing sunn hemp as a monoculture. The stalk is very lignified making this a poor species to use in a hay mix.
from $2.00 per lb
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Sweet Clover (Hubam White) - OMRI Inoculated
Hubam White Sweet Clover can produce up to 9,000 lbs dry matter per acre over a summer after being oversown into a grain crop or direct seeded with a spring grain nurse crop. While its taproot is shorter and more slender than that of its biennial cousins, it still loosens subsoil compaction. Annual sweetclovers work best in the Deep South, from Texas to Georgia as they are not frost tolerant. There, they establish more quickly than the biennial types and produce more biomass in the seeding year in southern regions.
from $3.61 per lb
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Chickpeas (Desi)
As the most heat tolerant of the cool season legumes, chickpeas offer a versatility that can be used in both warm and cool season mixes. Though not a great biomass producer, chickpeas are very drought tolerant and can help cover the ground in the midst of a summer drought. This taprooted plant can be used with grasses to add diversity and help break up compaction. As a legume, chickpeas will also fix nitrogen into the soil. Desi chickpeas have a smaller seed size so they blend well in a cover crop mix.
from $0.80 per lb
