Description
Hairy vetch is the most cold tolerant winter annual legume. Tolerating temperatures as low as -30 degrees, this is best planted before the first frost in the fall and then it will resume growth in the spring. Hairy vetch is slower to green up and has slower spring growth compared to cereal rye and wheat but once it does get going, it grows very fast, doubling it’s growth each week through the month of May. With patience and a delayed corn planting, a full stand of vetch can consistently produce over 200 lbs of nitrogen in its biomass. As part of a winter cover crop or forage mix, vetch is commonly grown with rye or triticale.
