Peaceful Valley Dryland Hay Mix (lb)

Reliable Forage and Ground Cover for Dryland Plantings

Peaceful Valley Dryland Hay Mix is a practical cool-season blend created to provide productive forage, seasonal ground cover, and useful plant biomass in dryland and lower-input growing areas. Combining Montezuma oats, beardless barley, and vetch, this mix brings together cereal grains and a legume with complementary growth habits. The result is a versatile planting that helps maintain living roots, protect exposed soil, produce forage material, and add diversity to fields, pastures, orchards, and other agricultural areas.

Montezuma oats and beardless barley provide the structural foundation of the blend, producing upright vegetative growth along with fibrous root systems that help hold soil in place. These cereal grains contribute substantial plant material that can be harvested for hay, grazed when appropriate, or returned to the soil as organic matter. Their growth also helps occupy open ground and compete with weeds while providing seasonal protection for the soil surface.

Vetch adds legume diversity to the planting and can form a beneficial relationship with nitrogen-fixing bacteria when properly inoculated. As the vetch grows alongside the cereal grains, it contributes additional leafy biomass and helps diversify both above- and below-ground growth. When the stand is incorporated or allowed to decompose after cutting, the resulting plant material contributes organic matter and nutrients back to the soil.

Use Peaceful Valley Dryland Hay Mix in dryland fields, pastures, orchards, fallow areas, or other sites where forage production and seasonal soil coverage are priorities. Depending on the intended use, the planting may be managed for hay, grazing, biomass, or green manure. For hay production, harvest timing should be based on the desired balance between forage quality and yield. When the primary goal is soil improvement, mow or incorporate the stand before mature seed develops.

For more exclusive blends designed for forage production, soil building, seasonal ground cover, and diversified planting, explore our Peaceful Valley cover crop seed blends.

Key Benefits

• Produces useful forage and hay biomass in dryland and lower-input plantings
• Combines cereal grains and a legume for greater plant diversity
• Provides seasonal ground cover and helps protect exposed soil
• Develops fibrous root growth that helps hold soil in place
• Helps compete with weeds by occupying open ground
• Adds organic matter when plant material is mowed, incorporated, or allowed to decompose
• Suitable for dryland fields, pastures, orchards, fallow areas, and similar agricultural plantings
• Inoculant: For effective nodulation and nitrogen fixation, treat the vetch component with Pea Vetch Lentil Inoculant (treats 100 lb). For smaller plantings, use Garden Combination Mix Inoculant (treats 8 lb) or Garden Combination Mix Inoculant (treats 50 lb). Plant promptly after inoculation.

Suggested Planting Guidance

• Application Rate: Drill 80–100 lb per acre; broadcast 100–120 lb per acre.
• Planting Depth: 1–1½ inches in a firm, well-prepared seedbed.
• Planting Season: Late summer through fall for winter cover and forage; plant in early spring where winter conditions are too severe for reliable overwintering.

These are suggested starting rates based on comparable cereal-and-vetch mixes. Adjust for seedbed, equipment, rainfall, climate, and forage goals.

Contains: Montezuma Oats, Beardless Barley, and Vetch