Vicia Villosa (Paperback)

High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! Hairy Vetch (Vicia villosa), also called Fodder Vetch or Winter Vetch, is a plant native to Europe and Western Asia. It is a legume, grown as a forage crop. Hairy Vetch is very similar to Tufted Vetch, the most noticeable difference being that Tufted Vetch has a smooth stem. Hairy vetch is widely used by organic growers in the United States as a winter cover crop, as it is both winter hardy and can fix as much as 200 lb/ acre of atmospheric nitrogen. Disadvantages in of hairy vetch in production agriculture are related to the crop having a portion of hard seed and its tendency to shatter seed early in the season - leading to it remaining in the field as a weed later in the season. This can be a particular problem in wheat production.