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| Up here 75% of the time they grow about 3-4' tall and look beautiful until a shower or wind come along. Then they get laid down. They grow another 18-24" and get laid down a different way. Then grow another 1-2' and lay down a different direction.
Then you find out the ground is slimy wet under them and crop lifters are a joke. Leave them until the ground dries out and the geese have harvested 1/3 of them. Then hope your pickup will pick them up without too much dirt.
The other 25% of the time a straight cut header works great.
I grew them several years for silage blends but got tired of guys complaining about the price of the seed and the poor harvest conditions. Mine wouldn't be at that stage till mid July usually though. Your longer season will probably help with the harvest conditions though.
That is an awesome stand. I had trouble with sclerotinia and ascochyta in mine most years. Usually used Quadris (azoxystrobin) on mine.
I've tried growing them in an intercrop with canola to help the standability but the 4010s choked out the canola. If the germ doesn't pan out and you go to sell them be prepared for the funny looks about your purple peas. Had one buyer tell me they were horribly diseased to look like that.
Best of luck with them. They are pretty in full bloom. | |
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Harvesting forage pea seed - any experts out there?
