Presto Purple Vetch

Product Description

• Seed Agronomy Table

  Seeding Rate - Dryland (kg/ha)

  30 - 45

  Seeding Rate - Pasture Mixes

  15 - 35

  Seeding Rate - Cereal Mixes

  10 - 25

  Hard Seed Level Description

  Soft

  Maturity

  90 - 100 days

  Pod Shatter (%)

  0 - 2

  Flower Colour

  Purple

• Enterprises For This Seed

  Beef and Sheep

  Dairy

  Silage and Hay

  Viticulture and Horticulture

• Strengths

  Early maturity High Dry Matter Yields Legume will fix nitrogen to benefit the next crop Great for use in crop rotation High biomass production in a short period

• Limitations

  Limited herbicide tolerance Only suitable for single cuts, poor regrowth from grazing Not tolerant to waterlogging Due to small levels of hard seed can be a contaminating crop in pulse rotations

• Plant Description
  Flowers

  Purple

• Pasture Type And Use

  Vetch is a quick establishing legume with good vigour and early maturity. It will grow a large amount of biomass in a short time. It grows well with grass species, and will climb through grasses and cereals to compete for growth as a companion. Vetch is useful for adding highly digestible forage and a protein source to a pasture or hay mix. Best suited to companionship with other annual forages such as Italian ryegrass or a forage cereal. Grain production is also excellent and this variety is able to be set up for harvesting as a grain crop. Vetch provides excellent ground cover, and is also very well suited in cover crop and green manure applications where a winter legume is desired.

• Rainfall

  350mm+ rainfall zones

• Soils

  Free draining soils, pH >7

• Temperature

  Temperate conditions

• Establishment
  Sowing/Planting Rates In Mixtures

  10-25kg/ha

  Sowing/Planting Rates as Single Species

  30-45kg/ha

  Sowing Time

  Autumn

  Inoculation

  Inoculate with Group E or F inoculant

• Management
  Major Pests

  Presto is susceptible in early growth stages to red legged earth mite and lucerne flea, like other common vetch varieties. Presto is also susceptible to bluegreen and cowpea aphids from early growth through to pod maturity, as well as to native budworm during pod formation and filling.

• Animal Production
  Feeding Value

  High; good protein content and digestibility as forage or conserved fodder

  Palatability

  Highly palatable

  Livestock Disorders/Toxicity

  Bloat

• Establishment Guarantee

  At S&W Seed Company Australia we're so confident about our seed genetics and seed quality, we will replace seed at half the original purchase price if it fails to establish satisfactorily in the first thirty days* Read more