The vetch will last till frost and be heavily grazed the entire time. I do not plant anything to the vetch in fall though I did experiment planting vetch into crimson this spring. If it works the growth patterns on these two should be compatible. The crimson should come back from seed this winter and be dieing lout about the time the vetch starts coming back from seed in the spring. We will see.
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A year in the life of a farm
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Originally posted by bgleaton View PostIs the main purpose for rolling the Rye to create a nice thatch layer on top which will improve water retention and increase organic matter? I'm guessing you'll drill brand into the Rye? I'm really interested to see how this roller helps. Thanks for posting.
It has been very interesting experimenting with various cover crop rotations designed to improve the soil while at the same time feed the deer.
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Since we will start fall rotation here in the next few weeks, here a a few shots from the summer program. Here is an 11 acre soy bean field, a sunn hemp stand I am using to improve some sandy soil [ my long range plan here is to increase om and fertility to plant alfalfa as it is the best drained field I have ] . Lastly chestnuts. This is the first year I have had any and curious to see what they are all about. I have about 20 chestnut trees in the orchard
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Originally posted by GarGuy View PostI had to drop by and look at that super star 4 year old again. he was an eight point last year! No telling what he might do in the next three years.
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What I call vetch is commonly known as joint vetch or deer vetch but its technical name is aeschynomene.It is one of my favorite summer crops! Highly preferred, highly nutritious and very grazing tolerant.
It is planted in the spring and likes wetter bottom land soils. It is slow to get started but will grow till frost. I sometimes mix it 50/50 with alyce clover as they have identical growth characteristics though deer much prefer the vetch.It is an reseeding annual that with proper management can reseed for many years much like crimson clover. In existing fields early spring I will lightly disc then cultipak. If necessary add something like 0-24-24 as it is a legume requiring no nitrogen. Then at the last possible day I spray the field with gly to kill any weeds . I watch the fields carefully looking for vetch sprouts and hopefully spray before they germinate. Weeds are a fact of life in vetch fields though it is very competitive with anything. Vetch is slow to germinate in the summer and slow to get going. But once it gets started grows quite well especially with rain.
Lately I've been letting the vetch get a foot or two tall with the weeds that high or higher then when the weeds start flowering or showing seeds I mow the tops. Doesn't hurt the vetch yet knocks back the weeds. Vetch will grow 4-6' tall ungrazed but deer keep mine closer to 1-3'.
You can find good info at hancock seed as well as order if your local coop can't get it. Requires inoculation. It's expensive but I have kept fields going for years with the above maintenance
It's a beautiful plant and some of our best bucks have grown up in vetch fields. Happy to help with any questions. Notice in the picture that every top has been nipped which is true for every plant in this 3 acre field.
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