DeLange Seed

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        Legumes are amazing plants.  They are unique in their ability to gather nitrogen from the atmosphere and convert it to a form beneficial to the plant.  The legume achieves this through the activity of bacterial colonies, (nodules), which form on the roots when the proper strain of rhizobia bacteria is present in sufficient number in the soil upon germination of the legume seed.  Some legumes are very efficient at gathering nitrogen and convert enough to supply their own needs as well as those of surrounding plants.

            All legumes bear fruit in the form of a pod containing seeds.  These plants may be annuals, perennials, or biennials, and include some shrubs and trees.  Legumes also include a great number of ornamental plants and plants valued as sources of such products as dyes, drugs, resins, perfumes and wood.  They also include some of the most important of all food and forage crops, such as; clovers, peas, beans, alfalfa, peanuts, and soybeans.  Many legumes are exceptionally rich in proteins and are practically the only non-meat source of some of the amino acids essential to mans diet.  Unfortunately, not all legumes are beneficial.  Some can be aggressive weeds (such as Kudza) and many are poisonous to grazing livestock (loco weed, crolateria, etc.).

            Before low-priced nitrogen fertilizer greatly reduced their usage, many legumes were utilized as green manure crops.  Increased fertilizer prices, along with our recent concern and awareness of ground water nitrate levels and stream pollution due to erosion runoff, may result in tremendous demand for legume crop seeds in the coming years.

            Many legumes are utilized in pure stands or in combination with grasses for grazing and/or hay production.  When utilized in combination with grasses, legumes increase forage yield and protein content, improve palatability and digestibility of grassland forage, supply nitrogen, improve soil structure, and can substantially increase carrying capacity of pastureland.  However, if legumes are to co-excist with grass and be productive, the grass/legume mixture requires good soils with good to excellent drainage and relatively high pH values.  While legumes provide their own nitrogen they are generally heavy users of other nutrients, in particular potassium and phosphorous.

            Inoculation is the practice of introducing commercially prepared rhizobia bacteria into the soil.  This may be accomplished by applying the proper amount and strain of bacteria to the seed prior to planting or by metering the inoculant into the furrow at planting.  All legumes should be inoculated before planting.  While most soils contain rhizobia bacteria, the strain may be poorly suited to the legume in question (improper strains can be lazy or parasitic to the host crop).  Even in those instances where a specific legume crop, such as soybeans, are grown continuously on a particular field, it's a good practice to inoculate.  The population of rhizobia bacteria in any given soil is strongly influenced by environmental factors.  Heat, dryness, low organic matter, and acidity are detrimental to the survival of rhizobia bacterium.  Producers are definitely not penalized by an overabundance of rhizobia in the soil.  On the other hand, if populations are inadequate, legumes may starve from a lack of nitrogen.