In their characteristics and cultivation, they are similar to rye vetch
Resistant to frost
Harvest potential - up to 25-30 t/ha of green mass
Stems - light purple, fleshy, quite strong, little hairy, 80-120 cm long
The flowers are white, sometimes pale brownish
Seeds - dark gray with black spots, slightly flattened
The weight of 1000 grains are about 40 g
Can be used as green fodder or for haying, silage
Willing to eat, good feed value
Winter vetches have more protein than summer vetches
Cultivated as intercrops in mixtures with rye and wheat
It is very undemanding to the soil and, due to its high protein content, is the first green fodder in the spring.
Winter vetches can be grown as summer cover crops by sowing them in late July to early August, and the green crop can be harvested right up until frost.
Winter vetches can be one of the most promising intermediate plants, because after harvesting the green mass in the spring, you can have time to sow summer cereals, buckwheat, and plant potatoes
Enriches the soil with nitrogen
In Lithuania, Hungarian vetch can be sown in the spring for fodder in a mixture with oats, because it produces a large (bigger than the sown summer vetch) yield of protein-rich green mass.
Under different growing conditions than those found in these studies, cultivar parameters may differ from those given here.
SOWING RATE
Recommended sowing rate for seed production: 60 kg/ha vetch and 120 kg/ha rye
Sowing rate when growing green fodder or green fertilizer: 50-60 kg/ha vetch and 80 kg/ha rye Recommended seeding rate when growing in a mixture with oats: 100 kg/ha vetch and 70-100 kg/ha oats
It is sown in rows of 12.5 cm, the seed is placed 3 cm deep