Field Peas & Pea Mixtures

FIELD PEAS

Planted early, field peas grow tall and leafy, and are tolerant to frost & drought. Best Use: Can be grazed or harvested for grain or silage. Requirements: Avoid wet ground. Prefers cool weather. Reduce planting rates when using as a cover crop for perennial forages. Inoculate before planting. Plant peas deep! (1.5" to 3" deep) Management: One-cut/graze crop; allow growth for maximum forage yield. Must be swathed for optimum grain yield. Planting Date: March - April or Aug 1 - Sept 15. If spring seeding, seed as early as possible. Seeding: 50-75 lbs/acre along with 75-100 lbs/acre of small grain for forage or 150-200 lbs/acre alone for grain.

4010 FIELD PEAS*

• Leafy, speckled forage-specific pea • Indeterminate growth habit • Significantly more biomass than yellow grain type peas • Best choice for forage

Conventional Uncertified $26/50 lb bag (3500 seeds/lb) Organic & Uncertified $34/50 lb bag (2700 seeds/lb)

DS ADMIRAL FIELD PEAS

• Tried and true dual-purpose yellow pea for grain or forage • Upright, tall and better standing than most other varieties • Determinate growth habit • Broadly adapted with consistent above average yields • Unmatched food quality because of near-perfectly round shape • Good adaptability to wetter climates and non-traditional pea growing regions

Conventional Uncertified $28/50 lb bag (80% Germ, 1900 seeds/lb)

NEW CDC MEADOW FIELD PEAS

• Yellow, dual-purpose peas: grain/forage • High grain yields, good standing • Smaller seed size than other yellow peas • Strong seed coat, less splits • Direct replacement for DS Admiral with similar yield and growth characteristics

Organic & Uncertified $34/50 lb bag (2000 seeds/lb)

WINTER PEAS

Viny, cool-season annual legume. Pea residue breaks down quickly. Best Use: Excellent forage quality for livestock, silage, or cover crop/plow down. Can produce up to 2-4 tons DM/acre. Requirements: Prefers cool weather and well-drained soils. Does not tolerate acidic soils. Inoculate before planting. Can withstand colder autumn temperatures than field peas. Management: Not reliably winter hardy in upper Midwest. Planting Date: March - April or Aug - Sept. If spring seeding, seed as early as possible. Seeding: 50-100 lbs/acre drilled. 1-2” deep.

ICICLE WINTER PEAS

• Strong winter hardiness potential • Excellent root system and high biomass production in the spring • Smaller seed size; lowers seeding costs • White flower; more digestible, and sweeter tasting to livestock compared to purple types

Conventional Uncertified $42/50 lb bag (3700 seeds/lb)

AUSTRIAN WINTER PEAS

• Best used as a forage pea in cover crop mixes or forage blends • Can provide from 90 to 150 lbs nitrogen/ acre at full flowering • Withstands temperatures as low as 10°F with minor injury • Does not overwinter in areas colder than

USDA Winter Hardiness Zone 6 • Sensitive to heat and humidity

Conventional Uncertified $38/50 lb bag (3800 seeds/lb)

PEA MIXES

Small grain and pea mixtures for forage quality and tonnage. Best Use: Seed at a full rate in early spring for silage or baleage. Can yield 2-4 tons DM/acre. Can be used as a cover crop for spring-seeded alfalfa to maximize forage production in the seeding year. Requirements: Not suited for dry hay. Inoculate before planting. Grows best in cool weather. Management: Harvest when small grains are at boot stage for best forage quality & quantity. Tonnage will increase as grain heads out, but quality and regrowth will diminish. Protein ranges from 14% to 19%. Planting Date: March - April or Aug – Sept. In spring, seed as early as possible. Seeding: Drill 100-150 lbs/acre at least 1” deep in early spring. Use the lighter rate if underseeding with alfalfa.

BARLEY*/YELLOW FIELD PEAS*

• 60/40 mix of CDC Meadow yellow field peas and 6-row spring barley • Swath and combine to produce animal feed with higher protein than small grain alone • Can be ground and fed direct on the farm. No need for roasting. • Triticale/pea or oat/pea will yield higher tonnage for silage • Larger pea requires heavier seeding rate of 150-200 lbs/ac

Organic & Uncertified $31/50 lb bag

BARLEY*/4010 PEAS*

• 50/50 mix of tall, high yielding barley with forage peas • Barley tends to be ready to harvest earlier than oats or triticale

Conventional Uncertified $26/50 lb bag

OAT*/4010 PEAS*

• 50/50 mix of tall, good standing oats and forage peas

Conventional Uncertified $24/50 lb bag Organic & Uncertified $29/50 lb bag

TRITICALE*/4010 PEAS*

• 50/50 mix of spring triticale & forage pea • Best forage quality of the pea mixtures; higher RFQ & protein percentage

Conventional Uncertified $27/50 lb bag Organic & Uncertified $32/50 lb bag

*Variety not stated

When should I inoculate peas & other legumes?

Most legumes used for oilseed, forage, and cover crops aren’t native to the U.S.—and neither are their specific companion Rhizobia species. Any legume new to a cropping system should be inoculated with the specific Rhizobia species needed for nitrogen fixation.

We recommend inoculating your legume species if the legume: • Has never been grown in your rotations before • Was grown in the past, but you aren’t sure that plants nodulated (if leaf color and yield performance were poor, plants may not have been well-nodulated) • Was grown in the past but only in a small proportion of the total crop mix • Has not been grown for 3 or more years (in this situation, Rhizobia levels in the soil will decline with time) If a legume species has been repeatedly grown, you may not need to inoculate each time. Factors that affect rhizobia survival in the soil include: low pH (less that 5.5-6.0), and extremely hot or extremely dry soil conditions.

How do I inoculate peas & other legumes?

An inoculant is a formulation of a carrier and the live Rhizobia bacteria. Commercial inoculants may be powdered (peat, clay, or talc/ graphite-based), granular, or liquid and are formulated to either apply directly to seeds or drop in the seed furrow at planting.

Peat-based inoculant contain the most bacteria per unit of carrier, but the bacteria in this formulation is very short-lived. After opening a package and applying to seed, the seed should be planted within 24 hours. Granular applications are formulated for ease of application to apply directly in a seed furrow, rather than on the seed. Individual planter and drills may not be equipped for this type of application. Clay-based inoculants are applied to seeds and maintain viable Rhizobia for a year or more.

For field peas, forage, and cover crop legumes, we carry OMRI-approved, peat-based inoculants specific to each legume species.

For soybeans, we carry a liquid formulation, a peat-based formula, and a talc/graphite-based biological seed treatment that contains rhizobia in addition to a beneficial fungi, Trichoderma. Ask about these inoculants when you order seed.

For other legumes, we provide preinoculation of all of our organic and conventional alfalfa, red clover, and white clover seed varieties, with ApexTM Green + Graph-Ex SATM or Prevail (OMRI Listed).