Hairy Vetch

Vicia villosa Hairy Vetch is a winter-active legume, great for improving soils before a next Spring or Summer crop planting. The stems and leaves of Hairy Vetch are covered with a soft woolly fuzz and the flowers are purple. It is a very hardy plant suited to wetter soils and colder winters than other winter-active legumes. It is adapted throughout most of the US, but shows its biggest advantage in Northern or Mountain areas with cold Winters. It should be planted in the Fall and seen as a Winter annual crop. Before planting the next row crop, till or disk the Vetch into the soil. Because it is a legume, Vetch can be grown on low fertility soils and will add Nitrogen from the air into the soil, as well as improve the soil structure and organic content of that soil. It also can be used for soil improvement along roadsides and for bank stabilization. Vetch is sometimes grown for pasture; it withstands grazing during early Summer with a feed value slightly lower than that of clover and alfalfa. Growing Height: 1-2" Min Yearly Rainfall: 18-20" Seeds Per Pound: 20000 Acre Rate: 30 lbs