Sunset Over Sunn Hemp (And What Exactly Is Sunn Hemp?)

November 24, 2017

North Escambia farmers sometimes turn to fields of a yellow-flowering crop to prevent soil erosion between regular crops like corn.

It’s called Sunn Hemp (that’s Crotalaria juncea L for the scientific types).

Sunn Hemp is a semi-tropical plant that is grown as a cover crop in the southeast. It’s a legume, growing in a variety of locations and returning nitrogen to the soil. It can also be used as a biomass to produce biofuels.

Pictured above: A golden setting sun Thanksgiving evening over a field of sunn hemp in Walnut Hill. Pictured below: A closer look at the sunn hemp flowers. NorthEscambia.com photos, click to enlarge.

Comments

One Response to “Sunset Over Sunn Hemp (And What Exactly Is Sunn Hemp?)”

  1. Charlotte on November 24th, 2017 7:53 am

    Thanks for the info. I saw some of this, a couple of years ago on Hwy 29 North and could not figure out what it was. I grew up, kind of, especially during the Summer, on a small farm and never saw or heard of any of this. Finally the mystery is solved, or for me it is.