Allegheny PeakBlend is a cool-season cover crop mixture combining oats, winter peas, and radish — a grass, legume, and broadleaf combination designed to accomplish most cover crop objectives while minimizing termination risk in the spring.
Oats and radish will winterkill with three nights in the mid-teens, allowing producers to focus solely on terminating winter peas in the spring. Winter peas contribute valuable nitrogen fixation to the rotation, improving soil fertility for the following cash crop.
Whether winter peas successfully overwinter depends largely on fall seeding timing and growth stage going into winter. Plants should reach 6–8 inches before a hard freeze to reduce the risk of heaving — too little growth increases vulnerability, while too much can cause winterkill as well. Snow cover and companion crops in the mix both aid in the overwintering process.
