Vetch May Develop Into
Highly Profitable Crop
___ ——-—
Vetch in a Strip Cropping System
Hairy vetch is a winter annual legume. It may be planted either
in the spring or fall.
When sowm in the spring it acts like a biennial, that is, it does
not set seed until the second season of growth.
For seed production purposes it is commonly planted in the fall
with rye which holds the vetch off the groud.
When seeded with small grains such as rye or oats it should be
sown at the rate of 15 pounds per acre, whereas if planted alone the
rate should be doubled.
Hairy vetch succeeds especially well on sandy soils, but can be
j grown on most well-drained soils.
Inoculation is essential and should be supplied particularly
where hairy vetch is grown for the first time.
Hairy vetch often succeeds on soils where sweet clover and al
falfa fail. It is more tolerant to acid (lime deficient) soils.
A Legume and Soil
Builder, It Is New
to Region
(Editors note: This article on
hairy vetch has been written
especially for The Frontier’s
Soil Conservation Issue. Al
though rather new, vetch has
possibilities for extensive use
in the O’Neill region and might
become one of our profitable
crops.)
By T. H. GOODDING
Profesor of Agronomy
Uni. of Nebr. College of Ag.
Hairy vetch, also known as
sand vetch, is a viny, weak-stem
med winter annual legume. The
stems attain a length of 2 to 5
feet. The stems and leaves of
hairy vetch are covered with a
heavy pubescense or hairiness
which gives the plant a silvery
apearance when it reaches the
bloom stage. The flowers are
blue-violet, borne in dense one
sided clusters. The pods are light
green, smooth and contain 2 to 8
small spherical seeds. When ripe
the seeds are nearly black.
Use* of Vetch
Hairy vetch is relished by all
farm livestock. It makes good
pasture, hay and silage and is an
excellent cover crop for sandy
soils.
As a pasture crop hairy vetch
is excellent for sheep and cattle.
It should not be pastured when
wet because of the danger of
bloat. Even though hairy vetch is
a fall annual it can be seeded in
the spring either alone of with
oats for pasture, hay or silage.
Vetch is a little difficult to
handle as hay due to its viny na
ture and the manner in which it
clings together. With the use of
modern haying machinery this
objection can be largely over
come.
Vetch ranks high among the
members of the legume family in
its ability to fix nitrogen. It is a
valuable crop for soil improve
ment purposes particularly if the
above ground parts of the plant
are not removed, but returned to
the soil, or if the crop is used for
feed or pasture and the manure
returned.
Adaptability
The two vetches most common
ly grown in the United States are
common and hairy vetch. Com
I mon vetch is less winter hardy
| and less drought resistant than
| hairy vetch. Some strains of
; hairy vetch are more winter
hardy than others. The success
in the growing of hairy vetch in
Nebraska depends to a large de
gree on its adaptability.
Hairy vetch prefers sandy or
sandy loam soils, but the crop
will succeed on a great variety of
soils provided they are well
drained. It grows relatively well
on alkaline soils and is more tol
erant to acid soil conditions than
most leguminous crops.
Method of Seeding
Hairy vetch may be seeded
either by broadcasting or by
.drilling. The most common prac
tice of seeding in the sandy areas
of Nebraska is to drill the vetch
with rye, in early September,
.'.seeding the 1 bushel of rye and
: 15 pounds of vetch per acre. This
practice is generally followed
when the crop is grown for seed.
The depth of planting will vary
with the type of soil and the con
dition of the surface-moisture of
the soil. Under favorable mois
ture conditions vetch may be
seeded 2 or 3 inches deep on
sandy soils and 1.5 inches on
heavier soils. Oats may be used
as a supporting crop and for
spring seeding should be drilled
somewhat lighter than the regu
lar rate, seeding the vetch at 15
pounds per acre. Spring seeding
of oats and vetch is often prac
ticed where the crop is to be pas
tured or cut for hay.
Hairy vetch may be seeded a
lone either in the spring or in
the fall for pasture purposes. The
viny nature at vetch makes it
difficult to harvest for hay or
seed when grown alone. When
sown alone the rate should be
increased to 25 or 30 pounds per
acre.
Inoculation
Hairy Vetch unless inoculated
is likely to be a failure particu
larly if the soil on which the
crop is to be seeded has not
grown a successful crop of vetch
within the past two years. Many
failures with vetch are directly
attributable to the lack of inocu
lation. Inoculation can be accom
plished by the use of commer
cial cultures or by the use of soil
from fields that have recently
grown a successful crop of vetch.
When soil is used, it may be mix
ed with the seed and drilled at
the rate of a half bushel per acre
and 30 pounds of seed with an
ordinary drill. Commercial cul
tures are inexpensive and their
use means cheap insurance that
the right kind of organisms of
high nitrogen-fixing ability will
be present. Precautions set forth
in the directions supplied by the
manufacturer should be observed
carefully.
Soil Improvement
When bacteria of the proper
kind are applied to the vetch
seed, the bacteria enter the tiny
hairs when the young plants be
gin to grow, causing the devel
opment of nodules on the roots.
The bacteria in these nodules
make nitrogen available to the
growing plant. The nitrogen fix
ed not only will improve the
growth of the crop, but when the
land is turned to another crop,
the nitrogen in the legume will
be released by decomposition and
become available for the follow
ing crop.
Hairy vetch may not rank with
biennial sweet clover and alfal
I fa as a soil builder, but sweet clo
ver and alfalfa are difficult to
grow on many of the sandy areas
of Nebraska where as hairy
vetch can be successfully pro
duced. On a sandy farm in Mad
ison county in 1949, corn follow
ing rye and vetch yielded 52
bushels. On the same type of soil
where no legume had been
grown recently the corn yielded
33 bushels.
Harvesting for Seed
The most common way of har
vesting vetch in Nebraska is with
the combine. Vetch should be
harvested when the lower half of
the pods are fully ripe. At thi6
stage of maturity the upper pods
wil be fully formed and the plant
will be carrying a maximum
quantity of seed. Vetch is usual
ly seeded with a supporting crop
like rye when grown for seed.
When grown in this manner the
crop can be harvested directly
from the field with a combine.
When seeded alone it may be
j necessary to cut the vetch with
an ordinary mower with a swath
er and combine from the wind
row by means of a pick-up at
tachment. Hairy vetch shatters
easily, consequently the com
bining should be done immedi
ately after mowing.
Pasturing
Vetch may be used for pasture
and is readily eaten by all kinds
of farm livestock. Cattle and
sheep do the least damage in
pasturing vetch, hogs seem to be
the most destructive. The possi
bilities of bloating cattle and
: sheep may be reduced if a good
quality of hay or straw is made
available to the animals. The an
imals should not be turned on the
lush pasture when they are hun
gry. ;
Seed
The purchases of seed not only
should inquire about its germina
tion and purity but should in
vestigate the source of the seed.
A strain of hairy vetch known
as Madison has been placed on
| the certification list by the Ne
j braska Crop Improvement asso
ciation. This strain of vetch was
grown on one farm in Madison
county for a period of approxi
mately 10 years when its favor
able characteristics and adapta
bility t o Nebraska conditions
were called to the attention of
the Nebraska Crop Improvement
association.
Eight growers of certified Mad
ison vetch, selected at random,
harvested a total of 137 acres of
vetch planted rye during the
summer of 1950. The average
seed yield per acre of the rye
vetch mixture was 19.4 bushels
whereas the vetch seed when
separated from the rye gave an
average yield of 6 bushels per
acre. ,
Rye-Vetch Seed Mixtures
The separation of vetch seed
from a rye-vetch mixture can be
accomplished with a high degree
of purity by use of a spiral sep
arator. But the separation of rye
r- • " '
«
from a rye - vetch mixture by '
means of mechanical devices is
quite difficult. Furthermore, the
seed trade discriminates in price
against rye containing vetch
seed. In fact, rye containing over
6 percent of vetch will be placed
in sample grade and for this rea
son probably should be ground
and fed on the farm.
Varieties of rye grown for cer
tification purposes should not be
seeded with vetch since it is so
difficult to remove the rye from 1
the vetch seed. If vetch volun
teers in the rye the crop should
be sprayed with 2, 4-D to kill or
retard the growth of the vetch so
as to prevent the seed from con
taminating the rye.
Members of the grain and seed
trade feel confident that a high
speed method for the separation
of rye or wheat from vetch seed
at a nominal cost can be accom
plished. If this can be done the
vetch growing area may be ex
tended into the winter wheat sec- f
tion of Southeastern Nebraska.
In 1700 it took 19 people work
ing in the soil to produce food
for 20 so one could go to town.
Now, IV2 to 2 can produce
enough for 10. The city is a prod
uct of the agricultural machines.
The chill of the wind
We have not felt
For we keep cozy
With our shelterbelt.
J WILLIAM W. GRIFFIN j
1 ATTORNEY
First National Bank Bldg, j
O'NEILL {
No vetch was raised in Holt county last year but in Pierce
county (near Foster) a field trial proved highly successful. Char
les Fenster, of Pierce (right), and E. G. Berggren, of St. Paul, in
spect the v,ine-like plant.
■ r 1 inmnswi. ........ - ■•■>wh--vt-vlv • • vArtniCvr rt>w.VMffirmin>nnnni n n n n
T. H. Goodding of Lincoln (left), representative of the Nebras
ka Crop Improvement association; D. W. Frey, of Pierce (center),
SCS technician, and Wayne Parks, of Foster, survey a field of rye
and vetch. Rye and vetch were grown together, followed by corn.
No reseeding was necessary to produoe vetch and the succeeding
rye crop.
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