Joint Vetch Question aka deer vetch

I had a thick plot of it that I left alone it is all dead now

Tensas parish. Had a couple light freezes

We've been planting it for about 12 years now. I can tell you just about everything you want to know. Ground prep. Planting methods. Seeding rates. Chemical weed control. Manual weed control. Fertilization. Life cycle.

To be honest, I've thought about doing a YouTube video about it. With pictures and video clips I've put together over the years. Because I get asked about it so often. It's a lot of information to just download.

We received minimum benefit due to planting too late.
One knock against joint vetch is that initial germination and growth is relatively slow. This can be a problem if you have weed issues and/or plant late.

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Cliff notes?

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There are lots of different vetches out there. The one you want is American Joint Vetch. Aeschynomene Americana

Prepare your seed bed really well. Disk and harrow smooth. Then scatter the seed. Then roller it down with a cultipacker or something. DO NOT COVER THE SEED. It is very small seed. A rain will plant it. Remember to innoculate if you haven't grown clover or beans on this ground recently.

If you are planting a big area, (3 acres or more) you can get away with 10# to the acre. half acre to 2 acres. Use 25# to the acre. Less than half an acre (bow kill plot) use 50# to the acre.

You don't need to fertilize it. But it repsonds really well to phosphorus. #100 of triple super phosphate helps. No nitrogen. It's a legume.

The best month to plant is May, followed by June. I wouldn't plant any earlier or any later. It's a small seed. It really takes a long time to get going. It really comes into its own in late August and Sept. The more the natural vegetation gets dry and rank, the harder they will hit the vetch.

Most people have a problem with it getting too big. We don't have that problem. Our deer keep it mowed down ankle high. But if it gets over knee high you need to bushhog it.

The biggest reason we use this plant is that it cannot be killed from over grazing. Heavy grazing pressure just makes it run along the ground and cover better. It is amazing stuff. I have seen 60-80 deer in a field in August. Full sun. 90 degrees. They cannot stay away from it. It will be someting like 28% protein in August when everything else is gargbage.

The does that are stressed from nursing in August will live in it. You can't run them out. They stand there looking all bony and you can seee their ribs and their hip bones. But by the end of October they're shiny and fat. It makes them a lot of milk.

For grass control use 12 oz of Select. For weed control, use 1.5 qts of 2,4d. It will burn he vetch but it won't kill it. For sedge control, use 3/4 of one ounce of Permit with a surfactant. If you end up with weeds that they above can't control, then just mow it. Won't hurt it. Will come back even more lush and tender.

I have heard several people tell me that because it is a non native species, that it hurts a deer's stomach when they first eat it. That they don't have the gut microbes to digest it. And it gives them the runs. But after the first year they get over it and they pass the right gut bacteria onto their fawns. I don't know if this is true or not. But if they don't hit it hard the first year, give it at least one more year.

If you don;t see much growth on it or deer pressure using it at first, don't give up. The later in the year, the harder they will hit it.

A frost will kill it. We usually disk it up about the end of October and plant our winter food plots.

Plant it on the best ground or the wettest ground you have. It likes it wet. It won't work on sand or hard red clay.

Frost kills it. Unless you plant a huge area and let it get really tall where it can flower and make seed then you will have to plant it again every year. It's not cheap.

Put out an exlusion cage like in the picture above. You will be amazed.

I'm assuming since it's a legume and produces nitrogen, whatever you plant in the fall following it usually does really well.

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Plant it on the best ground or the wettest ground you have.

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How does it do in standing water?
Say if you plant in may or June and in September it’s flooded and doesn’t recede.

I planted 30 acres of it for years. Got a lil expensive and decided to have dedicated vetch plots rather than replant each spring. Basically, let it reseed and it will come back in the summer. Yes the frost will kill it. Top seed clover or another favorite grass for winter. Your clover will run out about the time vetch gets going.

Anyone try planting without tilling? I have an area which stays too wet to pull a plow. Would a herbicide burn and broadcast planting work.

What type of 2,4-D you are using? 24d b or just regular 24d (weedar 64).