There is always an interest in new crops that provide diversification in farm enterprises, build soil fertility, and fill niches in crop rotations. Field peas and hairy vetch are two winter annual legumes which may fit the bill for Midwestern crop farms. Field Peas Field peas are a cool-season annual legume with weak stems and a viny habit. A useful crop, they are grown for seed, forage, and as a nitrogen producing green manure.
Field peas work well as a summer green manure.
If planted with oats, it also smothers weeds. Grown alone or with oats, they make good livestock feed but the hay may be hard to cure. When harvested for grain, they are commonly swathed and picked up with the combine. The Palouse region of Washington supports much of the US dry pea production, though expansion is ocurring into other regions. Field peas do best on loamy, well-drained soils with a pH from 5.5 to 7 and moderate fertility.