Interseeding Sunn Hemp for Soil Well being and Hay Manufacturing
Written by Mary Hathaway, OFRF’s Analysis & Schooling Program Supervisor, and John O’Meara, FLT Program participant
This on-farm trial at O’Meara Household Farm will examine sunn hemp grown alone with sunn hemp interseeded with Japanese millet for hay manufacturing. Outcomes from this research will assist natural farmers decide whether or not interseeding can enhance forage yield and high quality whereas supporting soil well being.
Supply: O’Meara Household Farm
Cows grazing at O’Meara Household Farm.
O’Meara Household Farm is a licensed natural livestock operation positioned in Northern Maine, close to the Canadian border. Based in 1999, the farm grows grain and raises grass-fed beef, pork, lamb, and geese. The farm contains 160 acres, 110 of that are wooded. As well as, John farms one other 100 acres of natural land that he doesn’t personal. The farm spans two properties positioned about half a mile aside. The property the place John lives has typically higher-quality soil, whereas the second has been steadily improved since he bought it and continues to profit from ongoing land rehabilitation efforts. The operation has been licensed natural since 2005 and has participated within the Actual Natural Undertaking since 2021.
The guts of John’s strategy is a dedication to the well being, happiness, and longevity of his animals and the land administration practices that make that attainable. His farming imaginative and prescient facilities on growing productiveness and constructing soil fertility, with a selected curiosity to find crops that serve double obligation: first as hay, then as grazing floor. In previous summers, John targeted totally on grazing and making hay from native grasses, however now he’s shifting to include summer season annuals into his hay manufacturing. Sunn hemp (Crotalaria juncea), a warm-season legume identified for its nitrogen-fixing capability and fast biomass accumulation, is a crop that’s widespread within the south, however shouldn’t be properly examined in northern climates.
Discovering a Twin-Objective Forage Crop
Certainly one of John’s targets is to rehabilitate fields which have traditionally been underproductive. The second property, particularly, was farmed intensively for roughly a century, its fertility depleted over generations. Whereas John has made significant progress, there’s nonetheless work to do. He recognized a number of areas which are weedy or low-yielding and commenced on the lookout for crops that would construct soil well being whereas additionally producing actual financial worth by way of hay manufacturing.
Sunn hemp stood out as a robust candidate. A tropical legume that thrives in heat circumstances, sunn hemp fixes atmospheric nitrogen, suppresses weeds, and produces substantial biomass in as little as 60 days. For a farm the place land enchancment and forage manufacturing are equally vital, the crop’s dual-use potential was a transparent draw. John had beforehand explored interseeding it with companion grasses by way of a SARE-funded grazing challenge on the College of Maine involving Japanese millet, which gave him a helpful place to begin.
The core query John wished to reply was sensible: does interseeding sunn hemp with Japanese millet produce larger high quality or larger portions of hay than rising sunn hemp alone? Japanese millet is a fast-growing warm-season grass with a strong observe report in Maine. John hypothesized that the 2 crops may complement one another: the millet including construction and bulk, and the sunn hemp contributing protein and nitrogen. Getting actual knowledge from his fields, underneath his administration, was the motivation behind making use of for OFRF’s Farmer Led Trials program.
