Hairy Vetch as a Cover Crop for Grazing

[@mistyglenn]

I’m a suburban dweller not an agricultural worker or farmer. My eyes are glazing over from the technical information he is explaining. You have to be a renaissance man to be a farmer. Much respect.

[@DowdleFamilyFarms]

Thank you. Honestly my eye glaze over as well!

[@AP-cm3kb]

100% definitely hard to appreciate till you get into it.

[@WildPrimal23]

You are doing incredible work sir, and I commend you for it! The world needs more farmers like you 🍀🌿☀️🌎

[@katehache]

I used hairy vetch as a cover crop after getting rid of my lawn. The bumble bees love it. The flowers are so beautiful. It does get a little weedy looking, and it reseeds itself like crazy, but I didn’t mind. It was a subsequent crop I didn’t have to pay for. This spring it filled and and started growing extremely vigorous. I have mowed it twice. I killed it in a few spots but a lot of it kept growing. What is awesome is when I planted in the residue to see how packed the soil is with the roots of the vetch. Exactly what my clay soil needs.

[@DowdleFamilyFarms]

Nice!

[@drockusamongus2839]

Thank you so much for your dedication to spreading info on regenerative ag. I love ur vids they are greatly appreciated

[@DowdleFamilyFarms]

So nice of you. I appreciate the feedback

[@marvinbaier3627]

Thanks for the video! I’m very been grazing cattle and sheep for 3 years hairy vetch and cereal rye and few other things with it. I seeded it in fall 2021 and it pretty much reseeded itself every year.

[@DowdleFamilyFarms]

Sounds great!

[@johac7637]

I grew this in the Arizona desert, it does well planted late summer, start of fall, it overwinters when planted with Austrian Winter peas, Diakon, Turnips, i used it for soil building, some seeds still are reseeding itself. Summer heat crops are Cow peas, Sunn Hemp, Mung beans. I have earth eorms galore. If i hade more area id have a few goats, now it's just soil building detween stone fruits, Citrus.

[@DowdleFamilyFarms]

Nice.

[@HollowRockFarm]

I ve grazed %75 hairy vetch with no problems. I do keep sodium bicarbonate available year round. I also provide apple cider vinegar in their water. Thanks for your info.

[@baconateors]

thanks for the vid. i have a lot of vetch and the pigs love it so i've always wondered about the health and nutritional benefits.

[@DowdleFamilyFarms]

It’s good protein, though it’s low in lysine comparatively, but it makes a good protein source as part a a diverse mix.

[@michiganhay7844]

Yeah, seeded cost was always an issue for me. It used to be planted a lot. I think 100 years ago I’ve got some fields where it comes up every year in bromegrass hayfield. There’s all sorts of dangerous warnings about feeding hairy Vetch hay and on the other hand all the benefits of feeding hair vet. I have never actually seen anything negative about feeding it in real life. Most in-depth video about using it for livestock. I’ve seen good job.

[@DowdleFamilyFarms]

Hey bud! I’ve never heard of problems associated with it and it or common vetch grows pretty well around here along fence lines. Most people around here still spray a broadleaf herbicide in pastures and hay fields though so maybe it just isn’t around much. I suspect that the real issue is limited quantities. UGA forage is the only extension service is the one to recommend 10 percent of pasture. Others don’t deal with it well I think. Thanks for the feedback on the video.

[@suzienicholls2999]

wow i better watch this in the morning cause i just spread some hairy vetch seed for the first time

[@DowdleFamilyFarms]

Nice. Do you plan on grazing the hairy vetch?

[@jeff-hh9mc]

I’ve never grazed hairy vetch BUT have always been told by old timers that hairy vetch has a toxicicosis to it for forage. So here’s my question for hogs have you tried cereal rye and Ladino clover?

[@DowdleFamilyFarms]

Yes, but diverse forages are crucial for pigs. 3-4 crops in the mix won't do a lot of good because of the nutritional needs of animals. I typically use more balansa clover than ladino because of our soil situation.

[@carolinablonde88]

Do all vetches have the risks with ingesting seed or just hairy vetch? I have 2 varieties growing wild and I skipped sections of my pasture to let it go to seed. Mine is deer vetch and common vetch

[@DowdleFamilyFarms]

Deer vetch is something different. I did plant some this year though! I think common vetch has similar issues as well.

[@johnisaacs6719]

Does it reseed itself?

[@DowdleFamilyFarms]

If allowed to go to seed it can and often will. It also has a high percentage of hard seed, up to 20%. That hard seed can remain viable for years in the soil. My focus was on a grazing system and grazing it before it goes to seed, so I did not address that component much, though I probably could/should have. Thanks.