Hairy Vetch Ecotype Evaluations for Winter Hardiness and Early Maturity.

Hairy vetch is an annual legume that has been used as a winter annual cover crop in both organic and conventional cropping systems.  In addition to providing winter cover and reducing soil erosion, hairy vetch can capture and fix nitrogen (N) for subsequent crops through biological nitrogen fixation.  While effectively utilized in some rotations, is rather regional in its application. The extended growth in the spring, needed for maximum N fixation, following winter dormancy can creep in to the planting dates of a cash crop in some regions, especially those regions with a short growing season like Minnesota. Still, hairy vetch is the only legume that can be fall seeded and potentially overwinter in Minnesota.
        Therefore, in order to take advantage of hairy vetch as a winter cover crop for our region, initial selections as part of a breeding program are underway to increase winter hardiness of hairy vetch and reduce the time to maturity. Thirty hairy vetch accessions are being evaluated for winter hardiness, early-flowering, biomass and seed production, as well as vigor and hardseedness. This two-year study is taking place at three locations: St. Paul, Becker, and Roseau, MN. We utilized two different planting dates, September 4^th and September 17^th, in the first 2013-14 trial. Effects of variety, location, and planting date were analyzed for each trait of interest.
         Initial results indicate that our current germplasm indeed contains genetic variation and varies by environment. Most notably, we found that original ecotypes developed in Minnesota were more winter hardy than other non-native ecotypes. Also, seed production was significantly higher in Roseau than the other two sites.  This research supports the Forever Green initiative by developing new cropping systems that provide continuous cover on the landscape, diversify crop species, provide valuable ecosystem services, and generate a sustainable agricultural economy.