"Conventional farming doesn't have its eyes open to this at this point, but it probably will," said Kevin Erb, an agricultural agent with the University of Wisconsin Extension Service.
Erb sees Purple Bounty as a way to help Wisconsin farmers raise corn. He estimated that farmers lose about a bushel per acre of corn for every day in May they delay planting. The variety would allow for earlier plantings of corn and other crops.
The price of nitrogen-based fertilizers also has almost tripled in the past three years, making vetch a more appealing option for conventional farmers, he said. Nitrogen fertilizers cost about 50 cents per pound, so using vetch on a crop like corn would save about $25 per acre, Erb said.
Some organic farmers, in Maryland and elsewhere, have been growing hairy vetch for at least 20 years now. "It can be used in a bunch of different ways," said Jack Gurley, who plants vetch to enrich the soil for some of the tomatoes he raises on his 5-acre organic farm in Sparks.
But current varieties have a hard time surviving winters north of Maryland, and in many areas they flower too early to be useful, Devine said.
Vetch is at its best as a soil treatment after it flowers, so late flowering can delay spring planting and cut back on harvests, experts say.
"The earlier you can plant corn, the longer the growing season and the higher the yield," Maravell said. "Having the vetch flower earlier would help."
To be certified as organic by the Maryland Department of Agriculture, a farm may not use commercially available, synthetic nitrogen-based fertilizers, according to a spokeswoman. There were 102 state-certified organic crop producers and handlers in Maryland last year, up from 84 in 2003, she said.
To come up with his variety of vetch, Devine ordered seeds from the U.S. National Plant Germplasm System, a national repository. From the plants they produced, he selected the hardiest samples that grew over nine winters at an ARS tract in Keedysville, in the Maryland foothills south of Hagerstown.
"That way, you're selecting under natural circumstances and getting something that's survived the vicissitudes of winter," Devine said.
The plants also were culled for their ability to flower two weeks earlier than current varieties.
The first seeds will be released to a limited market this year and will be more available next year. Backers say the market can only increase.
"I think more people are starting to use it, and with the cost of fertilizer going up, you're going to see more and more people use it," Gurley said.
dennis.obrien@baltsun.com
