# Sunn hemp



## chiques chicks (Sep 14, 2016)

Sunn hemp, anyone use it as forage?
My reading says it has about a 60 day cycle time, high protien in the leaves (~30%), and doesn't seed in most of the United States due to its lack of cold hardiness. It also is said to be good at adding nitrogen the soil when mowed. Higher is said to be 4-6 get which would be ideal for goats.

I found a local dealer with an overstock, therefore some pretty good prices ($59/50# and he runs a truck this direction, so I don't have to pick it up or pay to get it shipped!)

It's very late in the year to plant it here, but I'm going to try a small test patch as deer plot at the edge of my field. I ordered more than I need so I can try it in the spring. I'm thinking rotational plots for my few goats.


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## Blue Sky (Sep 14, 2016)

Keep us posted. I am trying to educate myself about improving pasture with out herbicides.


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## chiques chicks (Sep 14, 2016)

I'm also looking in to tillage radishes, also called groundhog radish, bull radish, etc. Supposed to loosen soil and add nitrogen if planted in the fall so they don't go to seed.


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## Alexz7272 (Sep 15, 2016)

I have heard of it but it would never survive here in Colorado. I have a friend that has planted them with soybean and uses it as forage down in Tennessee for goats & cattle (I think).


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## chiques chicks (Sep 15, 2016)

I'm counting on the sixty day cycle time.  I dont really want it seeding.  Not sure of the moisture needs, guess I'll find out. 

Currently I don't have 60 days until first frost, so I'll only put a few in next week, if we get any moisture.  Currently the soil here is bone dry and nothing is germinating. unusual for this time of year, but our late summer thunderstorms have been lacking, and the last tropical storm went out to sea and we didn't get any of the rain we normally get from the back side of it.  Of course, if they move a little west, we can get severe flooding.


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## greybeard (Sep 15, 2016)

> Higher is said to be 4-6 get which would be ideal for goats.


I'm not at all sure what that means...


I would be very much afraid at my latitude, (30.3413° N) the plant would set some seeds and everything I've heard about _Crotalaria juncea_ says the seeds are alkaloid.
_Dried for cattle feed, the stalks of Crotalaria juncea contain 14.4% moisture, 1.1% ether extract, 11.3% albuminoids, 35.8% carbohydrate, 27.4% woody fibre, and 6.4% soluble mineral matter. The hay is mildly toxic, mainly to horses, but cattle can eat it safely when it does not form more than 10% of the total feed intake.
Seeds contain 8.6% moisture, 34.6% crude protein, 4.3% fat, 41.1% starch, 8.1% fibre, and 3.3% ash. Seeds are reported to contain trypsin inhibitors, and are said to be poisonous to cattle. Seeds oil contains 46.8% linoleic acid, 4.6% linolenic acid, and 28.3% oleic acid, and, by difference, 20.3% saturated acids. The seeds contain the toxic pyrrolizidine alkaloids trichodesmine, juncein, senecionine and seneciphylline and 25.6% of the polysaccharide galactomannan._

_The green plant is also used as forage crop to some extent but it will never be important because of (a) seeds and other parts of the plant contain poisonous substance, (b) coarse fibrous stalks are unpalatable and of questionable food value and (c) early cuttings ensure good forage but contribute to low yields. In fibre producing states, plant tops are sometimes removed and fed to cattle.
As regards' toxicity, it varies from strains to strains and varieties in use and difference in plant maturity at harvest. High alkaloid concentration is the greatest feeding danger which lies in the seeds. Hence whole plant could be harvested prior to seed maturation and can be fed with less or no harm to livestock._
http://assamagribusiness.nic.in/Sunnhemp.pdf


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## farmerjan (Sep 15, 2016)

Doesn't sound like anything we would want to get established in our pastures. It would be our luck to have it go to seed and then who knows.  I think there are alot more plants more suitable and more manageable but it will be very interesting to see what you get and how it does.  I just can't imagine being able to incorporate it into our programs.  We have enough to be careful of the sorghum/sudan grass toxicity if it is drought stressed or too short when harvested.


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## chiques chicks (Sep 15, 2016)

As I am up around 40° north, self seeding is unlikely. I don't have, nor plan to have cattle, either. I'm not a production farm, but rather a backyard enthusiast with slightly over 5 acres. My plan is to plant small plots and allow the goats access at around 45 days before the plants become fibrous. There is other varied forage available as well.

With the proliferation of highly toxic indices like hemlock in my area, the limited toxicity of Sunn hemp at late stages of little worry. I have no current plans to attempt to harvest and dry it for storage.


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## Baymule (Sep 15, 2016)

Research this further. While YOU may not have cattle, do any of your neighbors? What if this does go to seed and spread to other's property, who might not want it? There has to be better forages for your area than this. Look on the list of invasive plants for your state. I study something to death before I plant it. I read how great yarrow is for sheep and I ordered some seed. Further research revealed that cattle don't like it and it can get out of control when it is not grazed. There is no way I would unleash something like that on my neighbors, whether I know them or not. The seed went in the trash.


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## greybeard (Sep 15, 2016)

> As I am up around 40° north


You'll probably be ok with it that far North. Make sure the variety you get is " ‘Tropic Sun’ ". It is reported to be non toxic tho Hancock Seed Company does have this notation at the very bottom of the page:
*Sunn Hemp can be toxic if ingested by humans!

http://hancockseed.com/sunn-hemp-seed-50-lb-bag-crotolaria-juncea-470.html*


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## chiques chicks (Sep 15, 2016)

Already on top of that.  The variety sold here is not able to handle our winters, nor does it have the growing season to produce viable seed.  I also have no plans of letting it flower, therefore, no seeds. 

As for neighboring cattle, are you referring to the neighbor who allows his cows to destroy wetlands (read about the Chesapeake Bay watershed issues),  cut down the stream buffer and believes it is his right to push his field scrapings on to neighboring properties?  The one who cuts down trees on neighboring land if it shades his crops? The one who sprays pesticides that float on to the neighboring organic producer and associated beehives? The one who doesn't control invasive plants on his land and allows them to spread to neighboring properties?  I've spent five years trying to control the vining invasives from his property strangling my trees and get the Canada thistles under control.  Yeah, not really concerned about his cows. Bad attitude, I know, but he has damaged  more of the ares environent in his 10 years on that property than the previous two owners dating to the 1940's.


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## Baymule (Sep 16, 2016)

Is there not a fence around his property or the neighboring properties that would keep him from pushing stuff onto neighboring properties? Here that is considered trespassing. And he cuts down trees on other's property? Why has no one pressed charges against him? He sounds like a terrible neighbor to have and I'm sorry that you have to put up with that. His actions just wouldn't fly here. Bring on the range war!


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## greybeard (Sep 16, 2016)

chiques chicks said:


> I'm not a production farm, but rather a backyard enthusiast with slightly over 5 acres.
> .



That, is one of the great misconceptions of agriculture and animal husbandry. The USDA, the American Community Survey, the decennial  US Census, and the local property appraisal districts, along with the IRS collaborate to come up with the total number of 'farms' in the USA. You, are among those 2.5 million--unless, you have never eaten any meat, drank any milk, made any cheese, from your home grown animals, never attempted to increase land/forage productivity, have never allowed an animal to be bred, have never improved the genetics of your animals or any of the other prospects related to agriculture.
I'm pretty sure you fit in somewhere there. 
Some of the greatest genetic breakthroughs in plants and animals have come from what the IRS calls "hobby farms". (Some of the biggest train wrecks have as well, but any scientist will readily tell you more is learned from failure than success).

The vast majority of US farmers btw, have an outside job--something besides agriculture, but they too are still 'production farmers' just as are 100s of non-profits in cities that have no intention of ever making a profit, just producing for the local area's needs.


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## Bossroo (Sep 17, 2016)

greybeard said:


> That, is one of the great misconceptions of agriculture and animal husbandry. The USDA, the American Community Survey, the decennial  US Census, and the local property appraisal districts, along with the IRS collaborate to come up with the total number of 'farms' in the USA. You, are among those 2.5 million--unless, you have never eaten any meat, drank any milk, made any cheese, from your home grown animals, never attempted to increase land/forage productivity, have never allowed an animal to be bred, have never improved the genetics of your animals or any of the other prospects related to agriculture.
> I'm pretty sure you fit in somewhere there.
> Some of the greatest genetic breakthroughs in plants and animals have come from what the IRS calls "hobby farms". (Some of the biggest train wrecks have as well, but any scientist will readily tell you more is learned from failure than success).
> 
> The vast majority of US farmers btw, have an outside job--something besides agriculture, but they too are still 'production farmers' just as are 100s of non-profits in cities that have no intention of ever making a profit, just producing for the local area's needs.


X2 ...X2 x to the tenth power.   Most of those here must wake up and smell the roses.   YOU all here  are a production farmer/ rancher whether you know / think it or not.  So act like you mean it.


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