USDA’s Organic Agriculture Research and Extension Initiative connects researchers, Extension specialists, farmers, and industry to solve real organic production problems. Three proposed major OREI projects involving Texas A&M AgriLife could bring new research in organic wheat, cowpea, and specialty rice to Texas producers.
Organic agriculture needs research that is conducted in organic systems, with organic farmers, and for problems that organic farmers actually face. One of the most important federal programs supporting that work is the USDA Organic Agriculture Research and Extension Initiative, commonly called OREI.
Over the next several years, Texas organic producers will possibly benefit from three major OREI project grant applications involving Texas A&M AgriLife researchers, Extension specialists, producers, and collaborators across several states. These projects, if funded, will address three very different crops—wheat, cowpea, and specialty rice—but they share an important idea: research should begin with a producer problem and ultimately return to the producer as something useful.
That connection between research and the farm is exactly what OREI was created to encourage.
The next phase of OREI research builds on work already underway. Here, Dr. Qingwu Xue and I are evaluating sorghum in our current USDA NIFA Organic Sorghum project, Climate-Smart Organic Sorghum Partnership for Grain and Silage Production, which continues through 2028. Projects like this show how OREI can bring researchers, Extension, and producers together around real organic production challenges, and that same approach could continue through the proposed wheat, cowpea, and specialty rice projects if they are funded.
What is OREI?
OREI is a competitive grant program administered by USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture, or NIFA. USDA describes its purpose as funding high-priority integrated projects that improve the ability of organic producers and processors to grow and market high-quality organic agricultural products while increasing the resilience of American farming systems.
The word integrated is important.
OREI is not simply a research grant program. Projects typically bring together researchers, Extension specialists, economists, educators, farmers, seed companies, processors, buyers, and other agricultural stakeholders. USDA specifically emphasizes research, education, and outreach that provide farmers and ranchers with practical, research-based information. Organic field research conducted under OREI must be conducted on USDA-certified organic land.
NIFA describes the advantage of integrated programs very well: connecting research, education, and Extension helps speed the movement of new knowledge and technology into practical applications that producers can actually adopt.
That is the part of OREI that I especially appreciate.
A researcher may discover something important, but until that knowledge reaches a farmer and works under farm conditions, the job is not finished.
How does an OREI project get started?
The process usually begins long before a proposal is submitted.
Someone recognizes a problem. It may come from a farmer, a researcher, an Extension specialist, a processor, a seed company, or an entire industry. Researchers and Extension personnel begin talking with people who are dealing with that problem and determining whether research could provide a solution.
That stakeholder involvement is not an afterthought. It is increasingly built into good organic research from the beginning.
The three project ideas are beginning to illustrate that idea particularly well.
For the cowpea project application, annual surveys of Texas organic farmers identified a lack of summer rotational crops adapted to our climate and soils. Farmers expressed strong interest in cowpea both as a nitrogen-fixing cover crop and as a cash crop. Seed companies also identified needs for dual-purpose cowpeas and short-season, high-protein varieties.
For the wheat project, organic farmers, dairy producers, millers, seed businesses, and food companies have been consulted to prepare the application. Producers repeatedly identified two problems: maintaining yield and grain protein when organic nitrogen sources are limited and finding wheat varieties actually evaluated and adapted for organic production.
The specialty rice project application likewise incorporated producer and industry engagement, with research priorities being refined through growers, millers, buyers, on-farm trials, field days, and participatory evaluations.
This is an important principle of good organic research:
We should not first conduct research and then go looking for somebody who needs it. We should first identify the need and then design the research to help solve it.
From an idea to a USDA grant
Once a problem has been identified, a project team has to be assembled.
For a major OREI proposal, that team can become quite large. A plant breeder may need a soil scientist. The soil scientist may need an agronomist. The agronomist may need an economist. Everyone needs organic producers willing to host research or evaluate treatments. And eventually someone has to translate all of that scientific information into recommendations farmers can understand and use.
NIFA then publishes a Notice of Funding Opportunity, or NOFO, describing the program requirements, priorities, eligibility, deadlines, and application instructions. Eligible OREI applicants include universities, agricultural experiment stations, research institutions, federal agencies, private organizations, corporations, individuals, and collaborations among eligible entities.
A competitive proposal must explain the problem, stakeholder need, scientific rationale, objectives, experimental methods, expected outcomes, Extension and education activities, project management, evaluation, budget, and the qualifications and responsibilities of the collaborators. Organic fieldwork must also meet USDA organic certification requirements. Applications then go through USDA’s competitive review process before projects are selected for funding.
It is a substantial undertaking. Successful proposals often represent months—and sometimes years—of conversations, preliminary research, producer relationships, data collection, and collaboration.
Three OREI grant applications addressing Texas organic agriculture
We have been involved in three major OREI grant applications that, if funded, could provide new research and Extension opportunities for Texas organic agriculture.
1. Nitrogen-Smart Organic Wheat
The wheat project is titled “Nitrogen-Smart Organic Wheat Using Biological Nitrification Inhibition for Grain, Silage, Dual-Purpose, and Cover Crop Production Systems.”
This is a particularly interesting project because it is trying to improve nitrogen efficiency through the plant itself.
Biological Nitrification Inhibition, or BNI, is a genetically inherited root trait in which plants release natural compounds that suppress nitrification in the soil.1 The goal is to develop wheat that uses nitrogen more efficiently and retains more nitrogen within the plant-soil system.
If funded, the proposed project would bring together Texas A&M, the University of Minnesota, Montana State University, organic farmers, wheat breeders, agronomists, microbiologists, economists, livestock specialists, and Extension personnel.
For Texas, if funded, the proposed project will look at wheat not simply as a grain crop but as a crop that may be used for grain, grazing, silage, dual-purpose production, and cover cropping. The overall project is 50% research, 40% Extension, and 10% education.
My role would be to help lead Extension activities and communicate the findings to organic producers and other stakeholders.
For me, this potential project addresses one of the recurring problems I hear from organic farmers: How do we supply enough nitrogen to a high-demand crop without becoming increasingly dependent on expensive purchased organic nitrogen fertilizers?
Plant genetics may become part of that solution.
2. Breeding Better Organic Cowpeas
The second grant project idea is titled “ORGANIC: Operationalizing Research and Extension on the Genetics of Atmospheric Nitrogen Fixation through Innovative Organic Cowpea Breeding.”
This proposed four-year project will place even greater emphasis on plant breeding.
Its goals include developing dual-purpose cowpeas capable of producing both seed and biomass and developing short-season, high-yielding, high-protein cowpeas. In both cases, researchers want to improve biological nitrogen fixation.
Cowpea is especially attractive in Texas organic rotations because it is a warm-season legume adapted to heat and drought. It can provide a cash crop, cover crop biomass, and biologically fixed nitrogen.2
Researchers have already identified genetic differences in biological nitrogen fixation and are developing molecular markers that may allow breeders to select plants with greater nitrogen-fixing ability much more efficiently.
The proposal allocates approximately 70% research and 30% Extension, including on-farm evaluation, farmer training, field days, publications, videos, online outreach, and work with organic seed companies.
For this potential project I would lead the Extension and outreach component, working with producers, seed companies, processors, Extension personnel, and our AgriLifeOrganic.org audience.
This is the kind of project where breeding and Extension should work hand in hand. A breeder can tell us which line has the strongest nitrogen-fixation genetics. A farmer may tell us that another line establishes faster, suppresses weeds better, matures at the right time, or produces seed more reliably.
Both observations matter.
3. Organic-Adapted Specialty Rice
The third project idea is “Accelerated Development of Organic-Adapted Specialty Rice through Integrated Breeding and AI-Enabled Phenotyping for Stronger US Food Systems.”
The application focuses on organic-adapted jasmine, basmati, and high-amylose rice and combines plant breeding, agronomy, weed science, entomology, economics, artificial-intelligence-assisted field phenotyping, and Extension.
Researchers will look for traits particularly useful in organic rice systems, including early vigor, weed competitiveness, nutrient-use efficiency, pest resistance, root characteristics, and grain quality.
Again, the important distinction is that these plants will be evaluated for the conditions organic farmers actually face rather than simply assuming that the best conventional rice variety will automatically be the best organic variety.3
Extension represents approximately 30% of the proposed project effort, with field demonstrations, producer meetings, stakeholder training, publications, and digital communication built into the project.
The Texas organic rice industry has faced serious contraction in recent years, and lack of dependable markets and contracts remains a major limitation. That makes the economics and market side of this project every bit as important to me as improved genetics or production practices. Better rice production alone does not help a farmer very much if there is no profitable market for the crop.
What do organic farmers gain from these possible grants?
If these grants are funded the immediate benefit is research capacity.
Plant breeding, molecular genetics, replicated field trials, laboratory analyses, economic studies, graduate students, equipment, multi-state trials, and several years of data collection are expensive. Individual organic farms generally could not reasonably conduct this level of research on their own.
OREI grants can allow us to bring substantial scientific resources to questions specifically important to organic agriculture.
But there is another benefit that may be even more important.
Organic producers become part of the research process.
The proposed wheat project includes certified organic producer fields in Texas, Minnesota, and Montana. Also the proposed cowpea project includes organic farmers and seed companies in on-farm evaluation and even calls for their input to become part of the variety-release process. The rice project we propose will bring together producers and industry stakeholders for rice demonstrations, evaluations, and continuing feedback.
That creates a two-way flow of information:
Research → Extension → Producer
but also
Producer → Extension → Research.
That second arrow is extremely important.
Organic research strengthens the entire organic program
One of the benefits I see from these potential projects goes beyond wheat, cowpea, or rice. Every good research project expands what we know about organic production as a system.
A cowpea nitrogen-fixation project teaches us about rotations and soil fertility. A wheat nitrogen-efficiency project may change how we think about plant breeding and nitrogen management. Organic rice research teaches us about weed competition, variety selection, nutrient management, biological pest management, markets, and the economics of organic production.
Those lessons begin connecting.
And because Extension would be involved, the results do not have to remain in scientific journals. We can turn them into field days, demonstrations, production guides, newsletter articles, videos, blog posts, producer meetings, and conversations across the tailgate of a pickup.
That is one of the roles I see for AgriLifeOrganic.org over the next several years. I want this website to become one place where Texas organic producers can follow these projects as they develop—not just when the final report is published.
There will be failures. Some varieties will not work. Some ideas that look good in a laboratory may disappoint us in a field. Other results may surprise us completely.
That is research.
The important thing is that organic farmers are now helping ask the questions.
This is an important time for Texas organic research
The opportunity to compete for three major OREI projects in wheat, cowpea, and rice represents the kind of investment in organic research that could substantially benefit Texas producers if these proposals are funded.
I think that diversity is valuable because there isn’t a single problem called “organic agriculture.”
Organic agriculture is a production system. Farmers have to make genetics, fertility, weeds, insects, diseases, rotations, economics, certification, and markets work together on the same farm.
Our research needs to work the same way.
And ultimately, I think that is where OREI is most valuable: bringing farmers, researchers, Extension personnel, and agricultural businesses together to solve real organic production problems—and then putting what we learn back into the hands of farmers.
Texas guide to organic cowpea production, including varieties, planting, inoculation, fertility, weed control, pests, irrigation, harvest, markets, and seed sources.
Dr. Paul DeLaune looks at Texas A&M’s newly released Ace cowpea being grown in a cover crop scenario. (Texas A&M AgriLife photo by Kay Ledbetter)
Technical content last updated: October 7, 2026 This page is periodically updated as new Texas research, cowpea varieties, organic production information, markets, and seed sources become available.
Table of Contents
Cowpea Production in Texas
Cowpea (Vigna unguiculata) is one of those crops that can be confusing simply because we call it so many different things. In Texas, most farmers are more likely to call it a blackeye pea, field pea, southern pea, cream pea, purple-hull pea, or simply peas than a cowpea. They are all part of the same remarkably diverse warm-season legume species.
Cowpea is especially well suited to Texas because it thrives under conditions that challenge many other legumes. It is a warm-season crop with excellent heat tolerance and relatively good drought tolerance, and it can grow on soils and under rainfall conditions where crops such as soybean may struggle. Today, Texas remains one of the important U.S. cowpea-producing states. Nationally, most vegetable cowpea production has historically been concentrated in Texas, California, and other southern states.1
Cowpea also has a long agricultural history in Texas. By the middle of the twentieth century, black-eyed peas were grown throughout the state, with important commercial production in East Texas and expanding production in the Rio Grande Valley. Henderson County and the Athens area became major centers for production, processing, and shipping.2 During the 1940s and 1950s, Texas commonly harvested tens of thousands of acres of black-eyed peas, and some years exceeded 100,000 acres.
What makes cowpea unusual is the number of ways we can use the same crop. Texas farmers have historically grown cowpeas for fresh peas, dry edible grain, hay, grazing, livestock feed, green manure, and soil improvement. That remains true today. A vegetable grower may harvest immature or mature-green peas for consumers, while a grain producer may allow the seed to dry for food markets. A livestock producer may graze or bale the crop, and a row-crop farmer may grow exactly the same species as a summer cover crop between cash crops. Historic USDA publications likewise described cowpea as one of the major leguminous crops of the Southern states, grown both for forage and soil improvement as well as for human food.3 For a historical perspective, USDA’s 1920 publication Cowpeas: Culture and Varieties provides an excellent snapshot of how cowpea was grown and used across the Southern United States more than a century ago. Many of the crop’s roles described then—forage, soil improvement, food, and rotation—remain relevant today.
Cowpea’s value in organic systems goes beyond its tolerance of Texas summers. Like other legumes, cowpea forms a symbiotic relationship with Bradyrhizobium bacteria that allows the plant to obtain nitrogen from the atmosphere. When properly nodulated, the crop can meet much of its own nitrogen requirement while producing high-protein forage or seed. When cowpea residue remains in the field, some of that biologically fixed nitrogen becomes available to subsequent crops. This ability to produce useful biomass while requiring little or no supplemental nitrogen is one reason cowpea can fit particularly well into organic crop rotations.
Modern Texas research is now bringing renewed attention to the crop. Texas A&M AgriLife researchers are developing cowpeas specifically for Texas environments, including short-season types, improved grain and protein characteristics, stress tolerance, and varieties that can fit between major cash crops. Current Texas A&M AgriLife breeding work is targeting short-season cowpeas that can fit profitably into existing Texas cropping systems.
That short-season concept could be especially valuable in organic farming. Cowpea can potentially fit between winter grains or into other windows where a grower wants a warm-season crop that produces biomass, fixes nitrogen, suppresses weeds, provides forage, or generates a second cash crop without occupying the field for an entire season.
One of the strengths of cowpea is its versatility. A Texas producer may grow essentially the same species as a cover crop, high-quality forage, pasture, fresh vegetable, dry edible grain, or seed crop. However, the characteristics that make a good cowpea for one use may be very different from those needed for another. Variety selection should therefore begin with the intended use and market.
Cover Crop
Cowpea is one of the better warm-season legumes for organic cropping systems in Texas because it grows rapidly in hot weather, produces substantial biomass, competes well with summer weeds once established, and fixes atmospheric nitrogen through its association with Bradyrhizobium bacteria.
A productive cowpea cover crop can provide several benefits:
add biologically fixed nitrogen to the cropping system;
produce residue and organic matter;
protect the soil from wind and water erosion;
provide rapid summer ground cover;
suppress weeds through shading and competition; and
provide a rotational break between other cash crops.
USDA plant guides report that well-grown cowpea cover crops can produce several thousand pounds of dry matter per acre and potentially contribute substantial nitrogen to a following crop.45 The actual nitrogen benefit depends greatly on biomass production and, importantly, on how much of the crop is removed from the field. A cowpea grown entirely as a cover crop returns considerably more nutrients than one harvested for hay or grain.
Cowpea can be especially useful during otherwise unproductive summer periods in organic rotations—for example, following wheat and before another fall or winter crop. Short-season varieties may make these opportunities even more practical.
Cowpea can produce a high-quality, protein-rich summer hay, either alone or in mixtures with warm-season grasses such as sorghum-sudangrass or millet. The leaves provide much of the forage quality, so varieties with good leaf retention, relatively fine stems, high biomass production, and suitable maturity are desirable.
Hay production changes the role of cowpea in the rotation. The plant may fix considerable nitrogen, but when the aboveground crop is baled and removed, much of the nitrogen contained in that forage leaves the field with the hay. The soil-health and nitrogen benefits therefore should not be assumed to be the same as those from a terminated cover crop.
Texas A&M has previously developed forage-oriented cowpeas such as Ace, 6 selected for forage and hay production as well as cover-crop use. Current Texas A&M breeding efforts continue to include cowpeas specifically suited to forage and cover-crop systems.7
Cowpea can provide nutritious warm-season grazing when perennial pastures slow during summer or when it is incorporated into an annual forage system.
For grazing, I would look for somewhat different characteristics than I would for hay:
strong early growth;
good leaf production;
upright or semi-upright growth that remains accessible to livestock;
standability;
tolerance of defoliation; and
some ability to regrow after grazing.
Cowpea can also be included in mixtures with warm-season grasses, where the grass contributes structure and additional forage while the cowpea contributes protein and nitrogen fixation.
One caution is that regrowth varies considerably among cowpea varieties and with the stage at which they are grazed. A variety developed primarily for grain production may not persist after grazing nearly as well as one selected for forage characteristics. Grazing management and variety therefore need to be considered together.
In Texas we commonly know edible cowpeas as blackeye peas, southern peas, cream peas, purple-hull peas, or field peas. These can be harvested as immature pods, mature-green peas for shelling, or fully dried seed.
Fresh mature-green peas can be a relatively high-value crop, particularly for direct markets, farmers markets, roadside sales, local grocery markets, and processors. Consumer demand tends to be strongly influenced by regional preference. Blackeyes, creams, crowders, and pinkeye-purple hull types all have established markets in the South.
Commercial southern-pea yields can vary considerably, but southeastern Extension information reports shelled fresh-pea yields commonly in the range of roughly 1,000–2,000 pounds per acre,8 depending on variety and harvest method.
For a fresh-market grower, the highest-yielding variety is not necessarily the most profitable. An upright variety that concentrates pods near the top of the plant and can be harvested efficiently may be worth considerably more than a sprawling variety requiring several hand harvests.
Allowing cowpea seed to mature and dry creates an entirely different market. Dry cowpea is an important food pulse internationally and provides a relatively high-protein grain for human diets.
Traditional blackeye peas remain one market, but interest is expanding beyond conventional blackeyes. Cowpea can supply protein for:
packaged dry beans;
milling and flour;
ingredient markets;
ethnic and specialty foods;
export markets; and
emerging plant-protein products.
For dry grain, producers need to emphasize grain yield, maturity, standability, seed size, seed-coat color, uniformity, harvestability, cooking quality, and buyer specifications.
Specialty and export markets make buyer communication particularly important. Seed appearance that is acceptable in one market may be unacceptable in another.
Texas A&M’s current cowpea breeding effort emphasizes high-yielding, short-season cowpeas adapted to Texas as well as improved nutritional value. Short-season varieties could make cowpea particularly useful as both a cash crop and a rotational crop within Texas production systems.9
Cowpea also presents opportunities for commercial seed production, particularly as interest grows in cover crops, organic production, specialty grain markets, and improved Texas-adapted cultivars.
Seed production requires another set of characteristics:
uniform maturity;
good standability at harvest;
resistance to seed shattering;
high germination and vigor;
uniform seed size and appearance;
disease-free seed;
varietal purity; and
good mechanical harvest characteristics.
New varieties being developed specifically for Texas conditions may expand this opportunity. Texas A&M’s Specialty and Organic Crop Breeding Program is developing cowpeas for short-season production, organic systems, improved nutritional quality, forage and cover-crop use, and tolerance to heat, drought, salinity, disease, and insect.10
For organic producers, seed production may become particularly important because availability of suitable certified organic cowpea seed remains limited for many varieties and market classes.
Many cowpea varieties are multipurpose, so these categories should be viewed as a guide rather than a strict classification. A variety selected for one use may also perform well for another, but the most important traits change with the market or production goal.
Variety or type
Best fit/use
Important characteristics
Comments
Ace
Hay, forage, cover crop
High biomass, good forage quality, earlier flowering than Iron & Clay
Texas A&M AgriLife forage cowpea from Overton
Iron & Clay
Cover crop, grazing, forage
Vigorous growth, high biomass, widely adapted
Long-used southern forage/cover crop standard
Red Ripper
Cover crop, forage, grazing
Vigorous vine growth, biomass production
Older southern forage/soil-building type
TAMC 101
Cover crop, forage
Strong canopy development, biomass, N accumulation
Developed through Texas A&M cowpea breeding
Texas Cream 40
Fresh market, dry edible
Cream-colored seed, good eating quality, determinate growth
Traditional southern pea type
Zipper Cream
Fresh market
Large cream pea, good flavor, relatively easy shelling
Seed appearance can also determine market acceptance, particularly for fresh-market, dry edible, and export cowpeas.
Variety availability changes from year to year. Organic producers should also verify whether certified organic or untreated seed is available before finalizing a variety choice.
Cowpea seed is available from several regional and national seed companies, but variety availability can change considerably from year to year. Some suppliers specialize primarily in forage and cover-crop cowpeas, while others offer a much broader selection of fresh-market and dry edible southern peas.
For organic production, growers should first look for certified organic seed of the desired variety. When an appropriate organic variety is not commercially available, untreated nonorganic seed may be allowed under the USDA organic regulations when the required organic seed search and documentation requirements are met.11 Treated seed generally cannot be used unless the treatment itself is allowed for organic production.
Texas organic growers viewing cowpea breeding and variety work during an Organic Variety Production Tour near New Deal, Texas.Photo: Texas A&M AgriLife Organic
Texas A&M cowpea varieties: Several newer cowpea varieties developed by Texas A&M AgriLife are moving through seed increase and commercialization. Seed availability and quantities may therefore vary. The registrations for TAMC 241, TAMC 243, and TAMC 244 state that seed will be available through Texas A&M AgriLife Foundation Seed. Growers should confirm current availability before making production plans.
Several suppliers currently offer cowpea seed useful to Texas growers:
Turner Seed, Breckenridge, Texas – a particularly useful source for field-scale forage and cover-crop cowpeas. Current offerings include Ace, Iron & Clay, California Blackeye, and Red Ripper, as well as cowpea inoculant. Turner lists seed by field-scale planting rates and is therefore a logical starting point for larger-acreage production.
Willhite Seed, Poolville, Texas – offers one of the broader selections of edible southern peas, including Texas Cream 40, Texas Cream 8, Zipper Cream, California Blackeye, Pinkeye Purple Hull types, Top Pick Pinkeye, crowders, and other specialty peas. This makes Willhite especially useful for fresh-market or food-grain producers and for obtaining smaller quantities for variety testing.
Seedway – supplies commercial vegetable seed and currently lists several southern pea/cowpea varieties, including Texas Cream 40, Texas Cream 12, and Texas Cream 8. Seed treatment status should be checked carefully because some commercial lots are sold as treated seed.
Urban Farmer – carries a broad selection of cowpeas and southern peas, including food types such as Pinkeye Purple Hull and Zipper Cream. It may be particularly useful when growers need smaller quantities of specialty varieties.
Other regional vegetable-seed companies may also carry cowpeas, and local seed dealers can sometimes obtain bulk quantities that are not shown in online catalogs.
A note for organic growers
Seed availability should be checked before the production plan is finalized. A variety may have excellent agronomic or market characteristics but be of little practical value if suitable seed cannot be obtained.
When buying cowpea seed for organic production, verify:
variety and lot identity;
certified organic or untreated status;
germination;
seed purity;
seed treatment, if any;
inoculation status;
seed size, because this affects pounds of seed required per acre; and
whether enough seed is available for the intended acreage.
For specialty fresh-market, grain, export, or seed-production contracts, growers should also confirm the buyer-required variety or market class before purchasing seed. A blackeye, cream pea, purple-hull, or other cowpea may all grow successfully in Texas while serving very different markets.
Cowpea is generally easy to establish when planted into warm soil with good seed-to-soil contact and adequate moisture, but stand establishment can be poor when seed is placed into cool, wet soil or planted too deep. Southern pea production guides commonly recommend waiting until soil temperatures are at least about 65°F, with warmer soils giving more rapid and uniform emergence. Oklahoma State is more conservative for commercial production and recommends waiting until soil temperatures have been 70°F or above for several days.12
For Texas, I would emphasize that cowpea is a warm-season crop, so planting date should be driven more by soil temperature and the production window than by a single statewide calendar date. Plant cowpea when soil temperature at planting depth has reached about 65–70°F and has remained in that range for at least five consecutive days. This is more useful than relying on a single minimum temperature because Texas spring weather can fluctuate considerably. Consistently warm soil promotes faster germination, more uniform emergence, and a stronger initial stand. In South Texas and the Lower Rio Grande Valley, planting can begin much earlier than on the High Plains. In northern and western Texas, growers should avoid planting into marginally warm soils simply because the calendar says spring has arrived.
Maturity – Under Texas conditions, many cowpea varieties mature in roughly 60–90 days, with short-season bush types often maturing earlier and vining or later types taking longer.
Cowpea seeding recommendations can be confusing because they may be expressed as pounds per acre, seeds per foot of row, or total seeds per acre. These numbers are all related and should be considered together.
Seed size also varies substantially among cowpea varieties. USDA-NRCS information commonly uses about 4,000 seeds per pound, while evaluations of different cowpeas have reported roughly 4,100 to 7,000 seeds per pound.13 This means that planting the same number of pounds per acre can result in very different plant populations.
For example, consider a cowpea planted in 30-inch rows at 4 seeds per foot:
30-inch rows provide about 17,424 row-feet per acre
4 seeds per foot × 17,424 row-feet = 69,696 seeds per acre
At 5,000 seeds per pound, that requires only about 14 pounds of seed per acre
If the seed lot is 90% germination, about 15.5 pounds per acre would be needed to provide approximately 69,700 viable seeds
The basic relationships are:
Seeds per acre = row-feet per acre × seeds per foot
Pounds of seed per acre = desired seeds per acre ÷ seeds per pound
Row spacing therefore matters. University of Georgia recommendations for commercial southern peas commonly use about 4–6 seeds per foot for bush types and 1-2 seeds per foot for vining types, with row spacing adjusted for variety, equipment, cultivation, and harvest method.14
A few examples show how quickly population changes:
Row spacing
Seeds/ft
Approx. seeds/acre
20 inches
4
104,500
30 inches
4
69,700
36 inches
4
58,100
30 inches
6
104,500
36 inches
6
87,100
There is no single ideal population for every cowpea. Fresh-market and grain cowpeas may be planted in rows that accommodate cultivation and harvest, while forage and cover-crop cowpeas are often planted at greater populations to encourage rapid canopy closure and biomass production.
For organic production, row spacing is also part of weed management. Narrower rows and adequate plant populations can produce faster canopy closure and greater competition with summer weeds. However, row spacing must still accommodate the planter, cultivator, harvest equipment, and growth habit of the variety.
The practical recommendation is simple: choose the row spacing and desired plants per foot first, calculate the seed population needed, and then use the actual seeds per pound and germination of the seed lot to determine pounds of seed per acre. Do not select a seeding rate based on pounds per acre alone.
Southern pea production recommendations generally place cowpea seed about ¾ to 1¼ inches deep under normal conditions. In heavier soils or where crusting is a concern, shallower placement is usually safer. On coarse-textured soils where surface moisture is limited, somewhat deeper planting may be justified if moisture is present.15
The key is to place the seed into firm, moist soil without burying it unnecessarily deep. Cowpea seedlings are vigorous, but excessive depth delays emergence and increases the time seedlings remain vulnerable to soilborne disease, insects, and crusting.
A uniform seedbed improves emergence and makes cultivation easier. Oklahoma State recommends preparing a relatively clod-free seedbed for commercial southern pea production, particularly where mechanical harvest is planned.16
Cowpea has good drought tolerance once established, but that does not mean it establishes well in dry soil. Seed needs adequate moisture for rapid germination and root development. If irrigation is available, the better strategy is usually to plant into existing moisture or irrigate soon enough after planting to produce uniform emergence.
For organic growers, rapid and uniform establishment is not simply a stand-count issue. It is one of the first weed-management tools. A cowpea stand that emerges uniformly and closes the canopy quickly can compete strongly with summer weeds. A thin or uneven stand leaves sunlight, water, and nutrients available to weeds and may require substantially more cultivation later.
That makes good seed, accurate seeding rate, proper depth, warm soil, and uniform emergence part of the organic weed-management program, not just planting details.
Cowpea is a legume, so one of its major advantages is the ability to obtain much of its nitrogen through a symbiotic relationship with Bradyrhizobium bacteria. These bacteria infect the roots and form nodules where atmospheric nitrogen is converted into forms the plant can use. That process can greatly reduce the need for added nitrogen fertilizer, but only when the correct bacteria are present and nodulation is successful. Oklahoma State specifically recommends inoculating cowpea seed with the proper inoculum,17 and USDA-NRCS guidance lists cowpea with the cowpea-group rhizobia used for Vigna unguiculata.18
Inoculation
Cowpea should be inoculated with the correct cowpea-group Bradyrhizobium, especially in fields where cowpea or another compatible host has not been grown recently. The inoculant contains living bacteria, so product handling and application are important.
A current commercial example is Exceed® Peat for Peanut/Cowpea/Lespedeza/Mung Bean, which contains Bradyrhizobium sp. (Vigna) and is labeled for organic use.19 Its directions call for 2.5 oz of peat inoculant per 50 lb of seed, applied with about 8.5 oz of clean, cool, non-chlorinated water per 50 lb of seed. The treated seed should be planted promptly; if planting is delayed more than 24 hours, the label calls for reinoculation.
The label also gives useful guidance for fields with no history of the crop: where the host legume has never been grown, it recommends using a higher inoculation rate—about 1.5 to 2 times the normal rate—or combining peat and liquid inoculants.
Because these are living bacteria, inoculants should be protected from heat, drying, and direct sunlight. Freshly inoculated seed should not be left exposed on a hot planter, truck bed, or in direct sun.
For organic growers, the inoculant itself must be acceptable for organic production. The Exceed cowpea product is specifically labeled For Organic Use and carries OMRI listing language.
Inoculation should not end when the seed goes into the ground. I like to pull several plants about 3–5 weeks after emergence and look at the roots.
A successfully nodulated cowpea should have numerous nodules on the taproot and lateral roots. Cut several open. Active nodules are normally pink to reddish inside, indicating that nitrogen fixation is occurring. Small white or pale nodules may be immature or ineffective.
This simple field check can tell us much more than assuming that “cowpea fixes nitrogen.”
Cowpea root nodules. Active nitrogen-fixing nodules are typically pink to reddish inside when effective Bradyrhizobium symbiosis is occurring.Photo: Texas A&M AgriLife Organic
A well-nodulated cowpea generally does not require substantial supplemental nitrogen. Oklahoma State emphasizes that legumes produce nitrogen for their own growth through biological nitrogen fixation, while phosphorus and potassium recommendations for cowpea should be based on soil-test levels.20
This is important because excessive available nitrogen can actually work against what we are trying to accomplish. When readily available soil nitrogen is abundant, legumes rely less on biological nitrogen fixation. Excessive nitrogen can also encourage rank vegetative growth, delay maturity, make harvest more difficult, and increase disease problems. University of Georgia likewise cautions against excessive nitrogen in southern peas.21
For an organic producer, that means cowpea usually should not be treated like corn or sorghum and supplied heavily with manure, compost, or other high-N fertilizers. If the soil already has substantial residual nitrogen, the crop may grow very well while fixing less atmospheric nitrogen.
Phosphorus, Potassium, and Other Nutrients Still Matter
Nitrogen fixation does not eliminate the need for balanced fertility. Cowpea still requires adequate phosphorus, potassium, sulfur, and micronutrients, and these should be based on a soil test.
Phosphorus is particularly important for root development, energy transfer, and nodulation, while potassium supports water relations, stress tolerance, and overall plant growth. Oklahoma State’s fertility tables show increasing phosphorus and potassium recommendations as soil-test levels decline, while requiring little or no additional fertilizer when soil-test levels are already sufficient.22
For organic systems, nutrient sources might include compost, manure, rock-based materials, or other allowed fertilizers, but the same principle applies: apply nutrients because the soil and crop need them, not simply because cowpea is being grown organically.
How Much Nitrogen Does Cowpea Leave for the Next Crop?
This is where the answer becomes more complicated.
Cowpea may fix a substantial amount of nitrogen during the season, but nitrogen fixed by the plant is not automatically equal to nitrogen available to the following crop. What happens to the cowpea biomass matters enormously.
If the entire crop is terminated and incorporated or left as residue, much of the nitrogen contained in the plant remains in the system. If cowpea is harvested for hay, grain, or seed, a significant amount of that nitrogen leaves the field with the harvested product.
Oklahoma State gives an average residual nitrogen credit of about 30 lb N/acre following cowpea, while also emphasizing that only a fraction of the nitrogen fixed by legumes remains available when much of the crop is harvested.23
I would therefore avoid saying that cowpea simply “adds X pounds of nitrogen per acre.” A better way to think about it is:
Nitrogen benefit to the next crop = nitrogen fixed and recycled in crop residue, minus nitrogen removed in harvested forage or grain, plus the effects of residue decomposition and soil conditions.
That distinction is particularly important when comparing cowpea uses. A cowpea cover crop terminated at high biomass may provide a meaningful nitrogen contribution to the next crop, while a high-yielding hay crop may export much of the nitrogen it fixed.
For organic production, successful nodulation is part of the fertility program.
A relatively inexpensive packet of the correct inoculant can substitute biologically for a considerable amount of purchased nitrogen, but only if the bacteria survive, infect the roots, and form effective nodules. That makes proper inoculation, good soil fertility, adequate moisture, and checking nodulation after emergence some of the most important fertility practices in an organic cowpea crop.
The goal is not simply to grow a green crop. It is to establish an effective cowpea-Bradyrhizobium partnership that allows the crop to supply much of its own nitrogen while fitting the fertility needs of the entire rotation.
Cowpea can become a very competitive crop once it develops enough canopy, but the first few weeks after emergence are the critical period. Organic weed control should therefore focus on starting clean, removing weeds while they are very small, and protecting the crop until the rows begin to close.
Start with a Clean Seedbed
A clean seedbed is the foundation of organic cowpea weed control. Tillage before planting should eliminate existing weeds and prepare a uniform seedbed for planting and later cultivation. Where time and moisture allow, a stale seedbed can also be useful: prepare the seedbed early, allow a flush of weeds to emerge, then destroy those seedlings shallowly before planting.
The important idea is to avoid beginning the season with weeds already competing with the cowpea.
The easiest weed to control mechanically is one that has just germinated. Soon after planting and during early crop development, blind cultivation with a rotary hoe or tine weeder can remove very small weeds before they become established. These tools work best when weeds are in the white-thread to cotyledon stage and the soil surface is dry enough for uprooted seedlings to desiccate.
This is the same approach used successfully in many Texas organic row-crop systems: begin with the rotary hoe or tine weeder, then move to more aggressive between-row cultivation as the crop becomes established. My broader resource page discusses these mechanical weed-control approaches in more detail.24
Yetter 3400/3500 Standard Rotary Hoe. Picture – Yetter Farm Equipment
Once the crop is large enough to tolerate cultivation, sweeps or other row-crop cultivators can control weeds between the rows. Cultivation should be shallow enough to avoid unnecessary root pruning while still cutting weeds below the soil surface.
As cowpea develops, the objective changes from repeatedly cultivating the field to helping the crop develop a competitive canopy as quickly as possible. Adequate plant population and appropriate row spacing become part of weed management because faster canopy closure reduces the light available to later-emerging weeds.
That is one reason planting and weed management are closely connected: a thin or uneven cowpea stand is much harder to keep clean than a uniform, vigorous stand.
Timing Matters More Than the Number of Cultivations
A field may receive several mechanical operations, but the number of passes is less important than hitting the weeds at the right stage.
A rotary hoe used against two-inch pigweed is already late. Sweeps trying to remove established weeds are much less effective than the same equipment used when weeds are small. Organic weed management works best as a series of timely operations rather than as a rescue treatment after weeds become obvious.
A practical sequence for many Texas fields may look like:
clean seedbed → rotary hoe or tine weeder → sweeps or cultivator → repeat as needed → canopy closure
Hand hoeing may still be needed for weeds that escape within the row, particularly where those weeds could produce seed and increase problems in future crops. The cost of those escapes can be substantial. In Texas organic peanut production, hand-hoeing costs can exceed $200 per acre when early weed escapes are not controlled.
Hand hoeing can become necessary when early weed escapes are not controlled, adding significant labor and cost. Photo: Texas A&M AgriLife Organic.
With cowpea, the goal is not to keep cultivating all season. The goal is to stay ahead of weeds long enough for the crop canopy to become one of the weed-control tools.
A vigorous, uniform cowpea stand can suppress later-emerging weeds through shading and competition. That makes good stand establishment, appropriate plant population, timely cultivation, and rapid canopy closure all part of the organic weed-management system, not separate practices.
Cowpea can tolerate a fair amount of insect feeding and still produce a crop, but several pests can become economically important, especially when the crop is being grown for fresh peas, dry grain, or seed rather than simply as a cover crop. Organic management should begin with regular scouting, conservation of beneficial insects, and treatment only when pest pressure threatens yield or market quality.
Several organically acceptable products are specifically labeled for black-eyed peas or cowpea. Depending on the pest and product label, options include Beauveria bassiana, azadirachtin products, and physical or barrier products such as Entrapment. The important point is to match the pest, crop, and current label before application. The current organic product list includes materials labeled for black-eyed peas/cowpea and relevant pests such as aphids, thrips, stink bugs, and weevils. 25 Always follow product labels and check with your certifier before treatment.
Thrips can injure young seedlings and later feed in flowers. Heavy infestations may stunt plants, distort new growth, and interfere with flowering and pod set.
A vigorous, rapidly growing stand is the first defense. If treatment is needed, organically acceptable products labeled for black-eyed peas or cowpea include biological, botanical, and physical-control products such as Beauveria bassiana, azadirachtin, and Entrapment. Coverage is important because thrips often feed in protected areas of the plant.
Cowpea aphid can build rapidly on terminals, stems, and the undersides of leaves. Heavy populations remove plant sap, reduce vigor, and produce honeydew. Aphids can also transmit viruses, so they may be important even before direct feeding injury becomes severe.
Natural enemies such as lady beetles, lacewings, syrphid fly larvae, and parasitoid wasps can provide substantial biological control. For that reason, preserving beneficial insects should be part of the management strategy.
If populations continue to increase, organically acceptable products labeled for cowpea or black-eyed peas include Beauveria bassiana, azadirachtin products, and physical-control products such as Entrapment. Beauveria bassiana labels specifically include cowpea aphid among the target pests.
Stink bugs become especially important after pods begin forming. Adults and nymphs insert their mouthparts through the pod wall and feed directly on developing seed. Damage may result in shriveled, discolored, malformed, or poorly germinating seed, which can substantially reduce the value of a fresh-market, dry-grain, or seed crop.
Organic options are more limited than for soft-bodied insects, but biological and botanical materials can provide suppression when applied against smaller populations and with good coverage. Beauveria bassiana products labeled for black-eyed peas include stink bugs among their target pests.
Because pod-feeding insects directly affect marketable seed, scouting should increase as flowering begins and continue through pod fill.
Cowpea curculio can be one of the most damaging pests of southern peas. Adults puncture developing pods to feed and lay eggs, and larvae develop inside the pea. Even relatively modest infestations can create serious quality losses in fresh or dry edible peas.
Organic management should combine rotation, sanitation, destruction of crop residue, avoidance of continuous cowpea production, and biological control where appropriate.
Beauveria bassiana is particularly interesting for organic curculio management. University of Georgia research found that a B. bassiana soil treatment produced the greatest reduction in overwintering cowpea curculio emergence among the treatments tested, with about a 58% reduction compared with the untreated check.26
UGA also notes that B. bassiana strain GHA products can reduce survival of late-instar larvae, pupae, and newly emerged adults during the soil phase of the curculio life cycle. However, heavy curculio infestations remain difficult to control, so preventive cultural practices and early scouting are especially important.
Root-knot nematodes are one of the most important nematode concerns for cowpea in Texas, particularly on sandy soils and in fields where susceptible crops are grown repeatedly. Infected roots develop characteristic galls, and heavily affected plants may become stunted, yellow, less efficient at taking up water and nutrients, and more susceptible to drought stress.
Cowpea root with root-knot nematode galls caused by Meloidogyne spp..Photo Credit: David Hébert, UF/IFAS – Nitrogen-Fixing Legume Nodules
Variety resistance is one of the best tools where resistant material is available. Rotation can also help, although rotation crops must be selected carefully because root-knot nematodes have a very broad host range.
Organic growers also have effective biological nematicide options. Two examples are:
NemaClean® 10% WP from Certis Biologicals contains Purpureocillium lilacinum strain PL11 and is labeled for root-knot and several other plant-parasitic nematodes.27 It can be applied as a soil drench, in-furrow treatment, banded application, or through irrigation systems.
LALNIX® ACT DC from Lallemand Plant Care contains Purpureocillium lilacinum strain 251 and is an OMRI-listed biological nematicide for root-knot and numerous other plant-parasitic nematodes. The fungus attacks nematode eggs and other life stages in the soil.28
These products are most useful when incorporated into an overall nematode-management program rather than treated as stand-alone rescue treatments.
Cowpea can be affected by seedling diseases, root rots, Fusarium wilts, bacterial diseases, viruses, and foliar diseases. Disease pressure depends greatly on variety, seed quality, weather, drainage, crop rotation, and insect pressure.
Cercospera leaf spot. Source: Image source: ICAR Research Complex, India. See University of Georgia Cooperative Extension, Crop Profile for Cowpeas in Georgia.29
The strongest organic disease-management tools are preventive:
start with high-quality, disease-free seed;
use resistant varieties where available;
rotate away from cowpea and other susceptible hosts;
avoid poorly drained or waterlogged fields;
maintain balanced fertility rather than excessive vegetative growth;
reduce unnecessary plant injury;
control volunteer cowpea and legume weeds that may harbor pathogens or virus vectors; and
manage insects such as aphids that can transmit viruses.
Biological fungicides can also have a place in an organic program. For example, Bacillus pumilus products such as Sonata are labeled across broad crop groups that include black-eyed peas.30 Their usefulness will depend on the particular disease, timing, and current product label.
Organic insect and disease management should not begin with the question, “What can I spray?”
A better sequence is:
scout → identify the problem → determine whether it is increasing → consider beneficial organisms and crop stage → evaluate potential economic or market damage → treat only when needed
This is particularly important in cowpea because the crop can tolerate some feeding, while beneficial insects may keep aphids and other pests below damaging levels. At the same time, pests such as cowpea curculio, stink bugs, and root-knot nematodes can directly affect seed quality or yield and may justify a much more active management program.
The goal is not a completely pest-free field. The goal is to protect crop yield and market quality while using biological, cultural, and organically approved tools in a coordinated system.
Cowpea is relatively drought tolerant, but drought tolerance does not mean the crop will produce maximum yield without adequate water. Supplemental irrigation can substantially improve biomass and seed production when rainfall is limited, especially during the hot, dry periods common in Texas.
Cowpea has several traits that help it cope with water stress, including stomatal closure, reduced leaf area, and root systems capable of accessing deeper soil moisture. However, drought tolerance varies considerably among varieties and breeding lines. Some genotypes maintain growth and yield much better than others under limited water.
Texas A&M sources indicate cowpea generally requires about 10 to 15 inches of total seasonal water, including stored soil moisture, rainfall, and irrigation.31 Water demand is not equal across the season, however, and the most critical period is from just before flowering through pod set and early seed fill.
Adequate soil moisture is important for rapid germination, uniform emergence, and early root development. A crop that emerges unevenly because of dry soil will usually remain uneven through the season.
If irrigation is available, planting into good soil moisture is preferable to planting dry and waiting for rainfall. Once established, cowpea can tolerate periods of limited moisture better than many other legumes, but prolonged stress can still reduce canopy development, biomass, flowering, and yield.
If irrigation water is limited, flowering should receive the highest priority, followed by pod set and seed fill.
Recent Mississippi State research found flowering to be the most drought-sensitive stage of cowpea development.32 Drought during flowering increased flower abortion and reduced yield potential, while vegetative stages such as branching were considerably more resilient. Seed fill was also sensitive to water stress.
For fresh-market and grain production, the practical priority is:
flowering → pod set → seed fill
Water stress during these stages can reduce pod number, seed size, and marketable yield.
The amount of irrigation justified for cowpea depends greatly on how the crop will be used.
A cover crop may not need to be irrigated for maximum biomass if the primary goals are soil cover, nitrogen fixation, weed suppression, and rotational benefit.
A hay or grazing crop may justify additional irrigation when the added water produces enough forage to offset the irrigation cost.
A fresh-market or dry-grain crop generally has a stronger economic reason to protect flowering and pod development because drought stress at those stages directly reduces marketable yield and quality.
This is why a single irrigation recommendation does not fit every cowpea production system.
Cowpea performs best in warm, well-drained soils and generally does not tolerate prolonged saturated conditions well. Excess water reduces oxygen in the root zone, restricts root growth and nodulation, and can increase seedling and root diseases.
The goal is therefore not to keep the soil continuously wet. It is to maintain enough available moisture to support growth while avoiding prolonged saturation.
For organic production, good water management supports more than yield. Adequate moisture helps maintain rapid canopy development, weed competition, active root growth, nodulation, nutrient uptake, and soil biological activity.
At the same time, excessive irrigation can increase weeds, disease pressure, nutrient movement, and production costs.
The practical goal is to take advantage of cowpea’s natural drought tolerance while protecting the growth stages that matter most. If irrigation water is limited, establish the crop well and prioritize flowering, pod set, and seed fill rather than trying to maintain uniformly wet soil throughout the season.
Harvest timing depends entirely on how the cowpea crop will be used. A cowpea grown as a cover crop may be terminated while still green and actively growing, while hay, grazing, fresh-market peas, dry grain, and seed production each require a different harvest stage. The important point is to choose the harvest stage that preserves the value you are trying to obtain from the crop.
Cover Crop Termination
For a cowpea grown primarily as a cover crop, termination timing involves balancing biomass production, nitrogen contribution, soil moisture use, and ease of termination.
Cowpea biomass continues to increase as the crop develops, but stems become more fibrous as plants mature and pods begin forming. SARE recommends incorporating cowpea while the crop is still green when rapid decomposition and nutrient release are desired.33 Cowpea residue generally breaks down relatively quickly in warm conditions, allowing relatively rapid nutrient release, so it generally decomposes and releases nitrogen relatively quickly.
Organic growers can terminate cowpea by mowing, grazing, tillage, or combinations of these practices. SARE notes that cowpeas may be mowed or rolled to suppress regrowth before incorporation. Mowing or rolling alone may suppress growth but does not always completely kill cowpea, particularly while plants are still vigorous. Shallow tillage following mowing can provide more complete termination.
Where soil moisture is limited, particularly in western Texas, termination should occur early enough that the cover crop does not unnecessarily use water needed for the following cash crop.
Cowpea can provide high-quality warm-season grazing, but grazing management should protect enough leaf area and growing points to allow regrowth when another grazing period is desired.
Varieties differ considerably in their response to grazing. Vigorous forage types with good standability and regrowth are better suited to repeated grazing than many grain-oriented varieties. Stocking rate and grazing duration should be adjusted to forage availability rather than grazing the crop down to bare stems.
Grazing also changes the nutrient balance compared with hay harvest. Much of the nitrogen and other nutrients consumed by livestock are returned to the field through manure and urine, although they are redistributed rather than returned uniformly.
Cowpea can produce excellent summer hay with relatively high protein and good feeding value. The challenge is balancing forage quality against tonnage.
In its cowpea chapter, SARE reports that cowpea forage is at high feeding value when pods are fully formed and the first pods begin to ripen. Waiting longer may increase tonnage, but stems become coarser and leaf loss increases as the crop matures.
Leaf retention is particularly important because much of the forage quality is concentrated in the leaves. Hay should therefore be handled carefully once dry enough to bale to minimize leaf shatter.
When cowpea hay is removed from the field, remember that much of the nitrogen and other nutrients contained in the aboveground biomass leave with the hay. The rotational nitrogen benefit will therefore be considerably different from that of a cowpea cover crop left entirely in the field.
Southern peas can be harvested at three general stages:
green snap → green shell → dry pea
Green snap peas are harvested while the pod is still tender. Green-shell peas are harvested after the peas have filled the pod but before the seed has fully dried.
For commercial processing, Oklahoma State reports that green-shell peas are commonly harvested when approximately 35–40% of the pods have dried.34 Commercial snap-bean harvesters may be used on bush and semi-vining varieties, while processors may use mobile viners that shell and clean the peas in the field.
Fresh-market growers may hand harvest several times, especially with indeterminate or vining varieties that continue setting pods over an extended period. Multiple harvests can increase total marketable yield, but labor requirements increase substantially. Oklahoma State reports that repeated hand harvests of vining types may increase green-pea yields by about 25% compared with a single harvest.35
For fresh-market production, harvest timing should emphasize seed size, appearance, tenderness, flavor, and shell-out, not simply maximum biological yield.
Dry peas are allowed to mature until the pods and seed have dried sufficiently for mechanical harvest. Small-grain combines can be used, but settings should be adjusted carefully because cowpea seed can be damaged by excessive cylinder or rotor speed and aggressive threshing.
Oklahoma State notes that small-grain combines are commonly used for dry cowpea harvest.36 Variety growth habit also matters because pods on some varieties are carried relatively close to the ground, making low cutting height important for reducing harvest losses.
Commercial combine harvest of a dry-seeded cowpea crop. Small-grain combines are commonly used for dry cowpea harvest, with careful adjustment needed to minimize seed damage. Photo: Texas A&M AgriLife Organic.
Dry cowpea should not remain in the field unnecessarily after maturity. Mature pods can become brittle, increasing the potential for pod shattering, weathering, discoloration, insect damage, and seed-quality loss.
Harvest should therefore be based on pod and seed maturity rather than simply waiting for every plant in the field to become completely dry.
Cowpea grown for planting seed requires greater attention to harvest and handling than cowpea intended only for food or feed.
The objective is not simply to harvest the greatest number of pounds. Seed must retain:
high germination;
strong seedling vigor;
varietal purity;
physical integrity;
freedom from serious seedborne disease; and
good storage quality.
Mechanical damage during combining, augering, cleaning, and conveying can reduce germination even when the seed looks acceptable. Equipment should therefore be adjusted to handle seed as gently as practical.
After harvest, planting seed should be cleaned, dried to a safe storage moisture, and stored under cool, dry conditions. Stored dry cowpea can also be attacked by the cowpea weevil (Callosobruchus maculatus), an important pest of stored seed. University of Georgia notes that this insect attacks dried cowpea seed after harvest rather than the crop in the field.37
Harvest is also the point where organic integrity can be lost very quickly.
Combines, grain carts, trucks, augers, cleaners, shellers, bins, and packaging equipment that have handled conventional crops should be adequately cleaned before handling organic cowpea.38 That cleaning should also be documented.
For an organic producer, post-harvest handling is therefore part of production—not something that begins after the crop is finished.
The goal is to maintain the identity and integrity of the crop from:
Cowpea is unusual because the market can be more important than yield in determining which variety should be grown. A high-yielding cowpea may have little value if its seed color, size, eye pattern, cooking characteristics, or maturity do not match what the buyer wants.
For that reason, producers growing cowpea as a cash crop should identify the market before purchasing seed whenever possible.
Oklahoma State specifically emphasizes that buyer preference should be considered when selecting southern pea varieties and notes that processors commonly specify the variety to be grown.39 Market classes differ in growth habit, pod color, seed color, eye color, and seed shape.
Fresh-Market Peas
Fresh-market quality is strongly influenced by local consumer preference. Blackeye, cream, crowder, and pinkeye-purple hull peas may all be cowpeas, but consumers often regard them as distinctly different products.
Important fresh-market characteristics include:
attractive seed color and appearance;
uniform seed size;
tenderness;
flavor;
high shell-out percentage;
freedom from insect injury;
ease of shelling; and
enough maturity concentration to make harvest economical.
For direct-market producers, a variety with excellent flavor and recognizable market identity may be worth considerably more than one selected simply for maximum yield.
Specialty markets make buyer communication before planting especially important.
The Korean cowpea market is a good example.40 A buyer may not simply want “cowpea.” The intended use may require a particular seed color, size, eye pattern, cooking quality, or processing characteristic.
In that situation, the sequence should be:
buyer specification → market class → variety → seed source → production
rather than growing a cowpea first and trying to find a market later.
A physical seed sample or photograph from the buyer can sometimes be more informative than a variety name because market terminology is not always consistent between countries.
Hay and grazing markets evaluate cowpea differently from food markets. Important characteristics include:
forage yield;
crude protein and digestibility;
leaf-to-stem ratio;
maturity;
palatability;
freedom from weeds;
proper curing; and
bale or forage condition at sale.
A forage producer therefore may deliberately select a variety that would be undesirable for a food market because leafiness, biomass, and regrowth are more important than seed appearance.
Seed production can become a particularly valuable niche because interest in cowpea is expanding for cover crops, forage, organic rotations, food markets, and newer improved varieties.
Planting seed must meet standards beyond ordinary grain quality. Buyers expect good germination, vigor, purity, correct varietal identity, and appropriate seed health.
For newer Texas A&M cowpea varieties, commercial opportunity will also depend on licensing, foundation or breeder seed increase, and availability of certified seed classes.41 Some new TAMC material may therefore appear in research publications before farmers can purchase commercial quantities.
For organic producers, a market should be evaluated not only by price but by whether the entire production and handling system can meet the buyer’s requirements.
A specialty buyer may require:
certified organic status + a specific variety or market class + seed-quality specifications + residue expectations + segregation and traceability
That makes the marketing decision part of the production decision.
For a cowpea cash crop, I would encourage growers to ask one question before they plant:
“What exactly does my buyer want to receive?”
The answer may determine the variety, planting population, harvest method, storage system, and ultimately whether the crop is profitable.
Osipitan, O.A.; Fields, J.S.; Lo, S.; Cuvaca, I. 2021. “Production Systems and Prospects of Cowpea (Vigna unguiculata (L.) Walp.) in the United States.” Agronomy 11:2312. https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy11112312↩︎
Smith, G., and M. Rouquette, Jr. 2022. Forage Legumes for Texas 2022.Research Center Technical Report 2022-2. Texas A&M AgriLife Research and Extension Center, Overton, Texas. ↩︎
University of Georgia Cooperative Extension. 2017. Crop Profile for Cowpeas in Georgia. Bulletin 1480. University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences. ↩︎
New Deal, Texas | Registration begins at 9:30 a.m. | No registration fee
One of the continuing challenges for organic crop producers is finding seed varieties developed for the conditions in which we actually farm. This is especially true in the Texas High Plains, where crops must perform under heat, limited rainfall, declining irrigation capacity, organic fertility programs, and significant insect and disease pressure.
On Thursday, September 3, we will hold an Organic Variety Production Tour in the New Deal–Lubbock area to look at efforts underway to address that problem. This tour is built around a Southern SARE Producer Grant led by Seth Fortenberry of New Deal Grain that is helping develop local capacity to produce and supply non-GMO hybrid corn seed for organic and water-limited cropping systems.
Seth farms organic crops in the Texas High Plains and operates New Deal Grain, an organic grain and seed business. One of the problems he and other organic growers continue to face is the limited availability of non-GMO corn hybrids adapted to the hot, dry conditions of our region. Most corn seed production and much of the breeding work supplying non-GMO hybrids has historically been centered in the Midwest. The goal of this project is to begin closing that gap by taking regionally adapted genetics, producing the seed locally, and ultimately making those hybrids available to organic farmers.
New Deal Grain has licensed TAMZ106B and TAMZ107, two non-GMO corn hybrids developed through the Texas A&M AgriLife corn breeding program. The SARE project is helping Seth build the specialized knowledge and infrastructure needed to increase parent seed, produce hybrid seed, maintain genetic purity, process and condition the harvested seed, and move that seed into commercial production. The project also includes testing these hybrids on certified organic farms and comparing their performance under actual production conditions.
The September tour will use that corn seed project as a starting point, but the discussion will be broader. We will look at corn, sorghum, cowpea and guar plots and talk about what characteristics we need when selecting and developing varieties for organic agriculture. That may include yield, drought and heat tolerance, disease and insect resistance, weed competitiveness, forage quality, food quality, seed production characteristics, and opportunities for alternative markets.
At the Texas Tech corn plots, we will discuss corn breeding, promising crosses, commercial possibilities, and high-anthocyanin or High-A corn being developed for specialty food and health-oriented markets. We will then move to cowpea and guar plots to discuss their potential as cover crops, forage crops, protein crops, and alternative cash crops. The final field discussion will focus on organic sorghum, including variety needs, seed availability, and where we see opportunities for the organic sorghum industry.
This is really a tour about connecting plant breeding, seed production, and farmer needs. Developing a good variety is only the first step. Farmers also need enough high-quality seed, produced and conditioned correctly, at a price and quantity that allows them to actually plant it. Building that connection from the breeder’s plot to the farmer’s planter is one of the important long-term goals of this work.
9:30–10:00 a.m. – Registration, Introductions and Tour Overview at New Deal Grain – Bob Whitney, Extension Organic Specialist and Seth Fortenberry, New Deal Grain
10:15 a.m. – Corn Breeding and Variety Development Overview of the corn breeding program, varieties and crosses, potential industry uses, and High-A corn. Andrew Sellers, Texas A&M AgriLife Research Corn Breeding Technician and Bob Whitney
10:45 a.m. – Depart for Sorghum, Cowpea and Guar Plots
10:55 a.m. – Field Overview – Seth Fortenberry
11:00 a.m. – Organic Cowpea and Guar Discussion of the plots and their potential as cover crops, protein crops, forage crops, and alternative crops for organic production – Dr. Waltram Ravelombola, Assistant Professor, Organic & Specialty Crop Breeding
11:25 a.m. – Organic Sorghum Sorghum plot discussion, organic sorghum production and variety development, seed needs, and the future of organic sorghum – Dr. Bill Rooney, Professor, Sorghum Crop Breeder and Nick Porter, Senior Research Associate, Sorghum Breeding
12:00 noon – Depart for Lunch at the Texas A&M AgriLife Research and Extension Center at Lubbock Lunch provided by Orlando’s
12:45 p.m. – Wrap-Up
Registration
There is no cost to attend the tour or lunch, but we need an accurate meal count.
Please contact Bob Whitney at 979-571-2086 to register.
Registration begins at 9:30 a.m. at New Deal Grain in New Deal, Texas, and we will leave for the field tour promptly at 10:00 a.m.
Texas A&M AgriLife has released a new organic cowpea variety called ‘TAMC 101’, developed specifically for farms across the southern United States that are working to build soil health in hot, dry conditions.2 Cowpeas have always been a dependable summer legume in our region, sprouting with very little moisture and growing through the intense heat that shuts down many other cover crops. What makes this variety stand out is that it was bred and selected entirely under organic management, meaning it performed well without synthetic nitrogen, without chemical weed control, and under real dryland field pressure. That alone makes it unusual—and useful—for organic and regenerative growers.
The story of ‘TAMC 101’ began with PI 293587, a highly variable cowpea line introduced in 1963. Breeders noticed one plant that produced noticeably more biomass than anything around it. That single plant became the foundation of this new variety. All seed increases took place in organic plots at the Vernon Research Station, and the result is a cowpea that spreads quickly, shades soil early and helps suppress weeds in systems where herbicides aren’t an option. The plants form a semi prostrate canopy with medium-green leaves, strong stems, and purple flowers—a combination that creates a full, dense stand that covers ground faster than the popular ‘Iron & Clay’ check variety.
Biomass of Organic TAMC 101 Cowpea
Across three years of trials in Vernon and Lubbock from 2021 to 2023, ‘TAMC 101’ consistently produced more biomass than the check. Its average dry matter yield was 3,850 lb/acre, compared with 3,485 lb/acre for ‘Iron & Clay’ cowpea, and in every single environment the new variety came out ahead. That extra biomass matters for weed shading, soil organic matter, and forage harvest. Nitrogen accumulation followed the same pattern. ‘TAMC 101’ averaged 74 lb N/acre, compared with 70 lb N/acre for the check, giving organic producers a dependable warm-season legume to help cycle nutrients naturally and reduce the strain on soil fertility. For growers who integrate grazing, forage quality was comparable to existing cowpea options, with crude protein averaging 22.1%, making it a solid late-summer protein boost for livestock.
What growers can appreciate most about this cowpea is how naturally it fits into real organic production. It doesn’t require high inputs, handles dry sowing well, and won’t drain soil moisture the way some summer covers can. Termination is also simple—one hard freeze ends it—which is a valuable feature for farms trying to avoid multiple tillage passes going into fall crops. For mixed crop-livestock operations, the dual-purpose role adds more value: the same cover crop that builds nitrogen can also provide emergency summer forage. In many parts of Texas, especially after wheat or oats come off, growers have a wide, hot window where they need something that can establish with little moisture and leave the soil better than it found it. This variety fits that window well.
Farmers often want a low-risk way to add summer cover crops into their system without sacrificing moisture or increasing weed pressure. ‘TAMC 101’ was developed with those realities in mind. Whether it’s planted after a small-grain harvest, used as a quick forage, or integrated into organic rotations for corn, sorghum, or vegetables, this cowpea gives producers a simple, reliable tool for improving soil health during the hottest part of the year.
For growers and seed producers interested in seed availability, licensing inquiries are directed to Dr. Richard Vierling, richard.vierling@ag.tamu.edu, Texas A&M AgriLife Foundation Seed in Vernon.
Ravelombola, W., Manley, A., & Cason, J. (2025). ‘TAMC 101’: New organic cover crop and forage cowpea for the southern United States. HortScience, 60(12), 2308–2309. https://doi.org/10.21273/HORTSCI18972-25↩︎
