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

Available as: Conventional Uncertified Organic & Uncertified

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

Available as: Organic & Certified (1850-1900 seeds/lb)

NEW DELTA FIELD PEAS

• Yellow, dual-purpose field peas; ideal for grain or forage • Decent yield potential; similar to DS

Admiral in drier climates • Shorter growing than DS Admiral; similar maturity • Medium seed size; excellent test weight

Available as: Conventional (2900 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 flower

Available as: Conventional Uncertified (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

Available as: Conventional Uncertified (3800 seeds/lb) Organic & Uncertified (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 DS Admiral 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/acre

Available as: Organic & Uncertified

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

Available as: Conventional Uncertified

OAT*/4010 PEAS*

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

Available as: Conventional Uncertified Organic & Uncertified

TRITICALE*/4010 PEAS*

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

Available as: Conventional Uncertified Organic & Uncertified

*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.

NEED INOCULANT?

See page 71