Rye

10 Reasons Why You Should Love Winter Rye

Thu, 26 Sep 2024 21:41:36 GMT

When it comes to forage and cover crops, winter rye offers rock-star versatility that makes it easy to love. Agronomy experts at the University of Vermont , North Dakota State University and the University of Wisconsin offer these reasons why:

1. It’s a nitrogen scavenger – Rye has the ability to take up excess soil nitrate from a previous crop or fall-applied manure, decreasing the risk of run-off and overwinter leaching. Fall-planted rye has been shown to take up and hold as much as 100 pounds of nitrogen per acre until spring, with 25-50 pounds being more common. In addition, it’s also an efficient utilizer of phosphorus. Agronomists estimate about 18 pounds of P are removed per ton of dry matter harvested.

2. Soil stays put – As a ground cover, rye effectively holds soil in place and reduces wind and water erosion. Its extensive root system also can improve soil tilth and reverse compaction damage.

3. Planting is flexible – As long as soil contact is available, winter rye likely will grow. It’s a cold soldier, and has been shown to grow at temperatures as low as 33°F. In fact, for winter rye to flower, it has a “vernalization requirement” of about 30 days of soil temperatures below 45°F. Spring seeding also is possible, although most of the crop will remain strictly vegetative and will not head out.

4. Two crops are better than one – Following a spring rye forage harvest, dual cropping with corn, soybeans or alfalfa is possible in most climates. If the rye crop is taken all the way to seed harvest, options become more limited, but still include sorghum-sudangrass, millet, or a new alfalfa stand. In between, it also creates a valuable summer window of freed-up acres for manure application.

5. It’s a dry matter maker – Compared to other cereal grains, rye grows faster in the fall and produces the most dry matter the following spring – up to 10,000 pounds per acre, depending how long it is allowed to grow.

6. Feeding options abound – Early fall-planted rye can be grazed in the fall or spring. Spring or early summer cuttings can be taken for hay or silage. As dry matter increases, protein goes down and fiber content goes up – both rather quickly. So, if intended for lactating rations, harvesting at or before early boot stage is recommended. Stands harvested at head-emergence stage can produce reliable heifer and dry-cow feed. Rye straw from seed-harvested crops also makes beautiful bedding, and can be chopped into dry-cow and heifer rations.

7. Weed-fighting capabilities – Rye’s aggressive growth means it competes well with small-seeded, light-sensitive weeds like lambs quarters, some pigweeds, foxtail, velvetleaf. It also has been shown to provide natural, allelopathic suppression of kochia, horseweed, marestail, ragweed, that can reduce the need for herbicide application to the next crop.

8. It’s not picky about soil type – Heavy clay, sandy, highly acetic, low-fertility and roughly prepared soils – it appears winter rye can handle them all. Rye can withstand a range of soil types and conditions where other cereal grains may fail. Optimal soil pH for rye is 5.0-7.0, but it will tolerate a range of 4.5-8.0.

9. Moisture may vary – Because of its prolific root system, winter rye also is more drought-tolerant than other cereal grains. At the same time, it is a helpful crop to have in place during wet conditions, as it will utilize excess soil moisture and return it to a more ideal condition for the next crop.

10. It plays nicely with others – Winter rye is an ideal partner to seed together with legumes like hairy vetch and/or clovers. It will initially grow faster than the legume seed, protecting the soil, scavenging nitrogen, and acting as a nurse crop to the legume(s). In the spring, it provides structural support for the climbing legumes. The high-nitrogen legumes reduce the overall carbon-to-nitrogen (C:N) ratio of the forage mix, and increase the nitrogen available to the following crop. A rye/legume mix also typically produces a larger dry-matter yield compared to a pure rye stand.

The 411 on Festulolium

Fri, 20 May 2022 02:19:30 GMT

Its name sounds like something that belongs in the pages of a Dr. Seuss book or an episode of “Seinfeld.” But festulolium actually is a highly useful hybrid forage grass – the result of a cross between fescue grass and ryegrass.

According to Michigan State University Extension specialist, Jim Isleib , festulolium gets its quirky name from a combination of Festuca, the genus of fescue; and Lolium, the genus of ryegrass.

As a hybrid, festulolium captures the favorable characteristics of both of its parent lines. From its fescue parentage, it can provide:

High dry-matter yield
Cold and heat tolerance
Drought resistance
Stand persistence
Disease resistance to rust and xanthomonas

And from its ryegrass “roots,” it offers:

Rapid establishment
Early spring growth
Good digestibility, sugar content, and palatability

A wide range of festulolium varieties has been developed using matings of Tall Fescue or Meadow Fescue with Italian ryegrass or perennial ryegrass. Each has its own unique characteristics that may present stronger attributes of one of the parent plants.

For example, some may boast higher feeding quality or tonnage yield, while others may have better persistency or quicker establishment. In total, the University of Wisconsin’s list of commercially released cool-season grass varieties includes 16 unique varieties of festulolium.

Denmark-based DLF is a primary developer of festulolium, and offers the largest seed portfolio for the hybrid grass in the world. Researchers there said festulolium hybrids are classified according to their degree of phenotypical similarity to the original parent plants, and not to their genotype heritage. In general, they can be viewed as “high-yielding fescues with improved forage quality,” or “higher-yielding, more persistent ryegrass.”

As a bonus, DLF noted all festulolium hybrids are substantially higher yielding than their parent lines, with trial data indicating an expected average dry-matter yield increase of about 25%. They describe festulolium hybrids as “more than the sum of their parts” in terms of yield, persistency, and feeding value.

Bert Strayer, Professional Seedsman and DLF Wholesale Forage Lead, said although festulolium generally is not considered a “permanent” forage, stands can reliably persist for several years. And while it was developed as grazing forage that can withstand heavy traffic, these hybrids also are highly desired in cutting systems.

“A lot of the festulolium that is grown in the United States is planted in forage mixes,” noted Strayer. “When companion-planted with alfalfa, for example, it serves as an excellent nurse crop, and provides desired moisture wicking when harvesting dry hay, while adding feed quality to the mix. Plus, it is less competitive with alfalfa compared to brome or orchard grass.”

Strayer said festulolium hybrids also work well for establishing new pasture seeding, and as a robust and high-quality option for overseeding thin alfalfa stands. “We’re definitely seeing a rise in the awareness and popularity surrounding festulolium,” stated Strayer. “It is an extremely versatile forage that provides customized options to fit growers’ needs.”

Winter Rye Makes the Perfect “Sandwich” for Heifers

Mon, 09 May 2022 15:16:20 GMT

Using the same acres to grow dual crops is paying off handsomely for two Ontario dairy farmers and the heifers they raise.

Corwin Schaap of Brantford and Haete Marks of Arthur each have been planting winter rye for heifer feed for about 7 years. Both dairymen sow it on corn silage or soybean acres as soon as possible after the late summer/early fall harvest.

The growing conditions in southern Ontario are similar to those of Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, New York, and Vermont. Schaap and Marks appreciate the winter-hardiness of rye, and the fact that it grows well in their somewhat challenging soil types, which range from heavy clay to clay-loam.

In the spring/early summer, there still is time after the rye is harvested to plant no-till soybeans. At the same time, acres are freed up to move out some late-spring manure. Marks said they plant beans into fresh rye stubble right behind the harvester, then follow with manure. Schaap prefers to wait for a bit of green regrowth, then does a herbicide burn-down and plants into the mat, which provides excellent weed control. As an alternative to soybeans, he sometimes rotates in short-season, corn silage hybrids.

Timing is everything when it comes to harvesting the rye, which both dairies chop for silage that goes into their heifer rations. “We tend to harvest at flag-leaf stage,” said Schaap. “The best feed value would be three leaves before the crop heads out.” Marks waits a bit longer until boot stage, but that’s still before the seed head forms, at which time forage nutritive value drops and the crop becomes considerably less palatable.

A yield of 2 tons per acre is fairly reliable year-to-year for the Marks dairy, with upside potential of 3 tons per acre. Schaap said 3-3.5 tons is their standard, though one season produced a colossal harvest of more than 6 tons per acre.

As heifer feed, ryelage is nearly an ideal feedstuff, because it is high-fiber, low-energy, reasonably palatable, and ensiles well. Its crude protein percentage on a dry-matter basis also falls neatly within recommendations for heifer-growing rations. In recent batch analyses of crude protein %DM, the Marks’ crop was 14.9 and the Schaaps’ was 17.0.

Digestible NDF – important for rumen and digestive development – measured well over 50% on a dry-matter basis for each dairy. Lignin – the tough fiber that interferes with palatability – was admirably low for both dairies, owing to their careful harvest timing. The Schaaps’ result was just 3.3% DM, while the Marks’ reading was even lower at 2.78% DM. Data from other operations provided by the Marks’ lab showed the median lignin percentage for multiple farm samples at 5.07% DM, with the range spanning as high as 7.73%.

In addition to great heifer feed, planting winter rye can improve soil tilth, water-holding capacity, and erosion control. Plus, with the ever-increasing cost of land, fuel, and fertilizer, it’s a resource-maximizer that helps producers do more with less.

“We value the fact that we are able to plant less alfalfa and more cash crops,” said Marks. “This system also builds organic matter in the soil. Plus, tillage is expensive, so we are able to cut that cost.”

Cereal Grains Enhance Dairy Cropping Options

Fri, 16 Apr 2021 16:53:10 GMT

Growing an array of cereal grains to augment the traditional corn-alfalfa cropping cycle has become the new normal for dairy farmer Josh Tranel and his family of Cuba City, Wis.

“We got burned so many times with alfalfa winter-kill,” Tranel shared on a recent Iowa State University webinar . “And we wanted to take advantage of a longer growing season. Trying to raise all of our feed in just a few months in the summer wasn’t working very well.”

The Tranels now raise a variety of small grains as both cover and nurse crops to feed their 600-cow organic herd. Through several seasons of trial and error, they have learned the best ways to incorporate winter wheat, triticale, winter rye, oats, sorghum-Sudan grass, and summer forage “cocktail mixes” into their cropping plans. By raising more cereal grains, they also are now able to grow more corn as well.

“In our old rotation, we could only keep about 25% of our acres in corn,” said Tranel. “Now we can routinely plant 40% of our acres to corn.” He cited several additional benefits to embracing small grains, including:

Soil health and protection. By keeping the ground covered virtually year-around, less soil is lost to erosion, soil tilth is improved, nutrient update is better, and weed pressure is reduced.

More tonnage from the same acres. Tranel shared a calculation of their 5-year average annual tons per acre now versus their years of a strict corn-alfalfa program. On the same 2,000 acres, the farm’s new rotation yields an average of 12.25 tons of dry matter per acre per year more than the old program.

Greater manure management flexibility. Because crops are coming off at different times of the year, the Tranels have more opportunities to hose-applicate liquid manure on acres close to their dairy site. This saves on hauling time and expense; allows them to keep their manure inventories lower; and expands the manure application season, versus just small windows of opportunity in the spring and fall.

The Tranels also appreciate the harvesting flexibility of cereal grains, which can easily be chopped for silage; baled and wrapped; or grazed. Because they are almost always one-cut crops, the chop height can be fairly low, at about 3 inches.

Along the way, they’ve learned to customize forages and harvest times depending on the target group of animals they will be feeding. Lactating-cow rations generally require harvest at boot to late-boot stage for maximum digestibility. Heifer forages will yield appropriate nutrition and more tonnage at the heading-milk stage. Dry-cow rations are best formulated with forages like winter wheat at the milk-to-dough stage.

Tranel’s favorite small grain forage? “Triticale, for sure,” he shared. “It has flexibility for fall or spring seeding, is fairly high in protein, and has tremendous NDF value compared to alfalfa.”

Small Grain Silage Harvest Can Cause Soil Compaction

Fri, 20 Nov 2020 01:56:30 GMT

Farmers need to be aware that harvesting small grains as silage in late spring, especially if soils are wet, can cause soil compaction that can then lower or limit subsequent corn silage yields that is double cropped.

“Soil is most sensitive to compaction when it is in the ‘plastic’ state—that is when soil particles easily slide over each other leading to a denser soil with fewer pores,” says Sjoerd Duiker, a Penn State Extension soils specialist. “If, by molding a handful of soil, you can easily form a ball, the soil is in the plastic state.”

When compaction occurs, large soil pores are compressed, which leads to reduced aeration, water percolation and increased penetration resistance. That, in turn, makes it harder for corn roots to establish themselves.

Waiting until soils dry is not always an option because small grains have a narrow harvest window to optimize quality. And the longer corn planting is delayed, the greater chance of poorer corn yields as well.

To avoid compaction, consider lowering axle load to below 10 tons by decreasing load or increasing the number of axles. Reducing contact pressure below 35 psi and increasing equipment footprint by using tracks or flotation tires at low pressure also will help. If ruts are created, it’s often tempting to perform tillage to smooth soils ahead of planting. “You always have to remember that tillage makes your soil more susceptible to recompaction in the future,” says Duiker.

For more tips on reducing spring soil compaction, click here .