|
|
 Garrett County, MD | There is not much information on growing rye for grain production, while there is a lot of information on growing SRWwheat. For those of you that have experience with growing rye for grain production, what management practices would be different between the two crops. Seems it should be pretty similar to me. N application and rate... seeding rate... etc. Thanks
Also, here we can get seed that is "unknown variety." That is used here for cover crop.... would that seed be any good for grain production? Or would I need to get a specific variety of rye to assure uniform growth stage timing etc.?
Edited by Austin 1/27/2013 09:55
|
|
|
|
acme alberta canada | go easy on the n. rye can get pretty rank. other then that the stuff germinates on spit for moisture. rye is marketed on its falling number. and don't ask, i have no idea what that actually means other then you should use a good grain type of variety. best bet would be to talk to the actual buyer of the rye.
P.S. : when i consider growing something "new to me" i talk to the end user first. that way you get a feel for what they are looking for, variety and grade etc. then work back to the actual planting. know the problems that you may come up against before you put it in the ground.
Edited by twok 1/27/2013 10:32
|
|
|
|
 Garrett County, MD | This rye would be harvested for seed. Surely there is a timing where you can apply N for maximum yield without causing excessive plant growth and lodging. |
|
|
|
Thompsontown, Pennsylvania | i have made a point to get huron rye when i have grown for seed....a fair amount of the "end users" for seed are going to be sowing for forage and huron is later, and leafier.....as for how you treat it, if you have some good wheat ground and some poor, put wheat on good ground, and grow rye on poor......mostly had 40-45 bu rye, sometimes 35 bu....sow 1.5-2.5 bu/acre, go easy on the N, so it doesn't go down, and also because even if you push it, it will probably still only do 40-45 bu...doesn't seem to respond well to any added management.....makes lots of really nice straw, which is why it has interested me...plus if you have 40-50 bu wheat ground with moderate inputs, you will have 40 bu rye ground with less inputs and 50 bushel wheat at $7 is less gross income than 40 bu rye at $13?, $15 a bushel....even at $9 a bushel, which is what my lender has as a 5 year average, you gross more.... |
|
|
|
| Rye just gets taller than wheat does. Period. And that is why it is more susceptible to lodging. I concur with Kyle - put the rye on poorer ground if you can. Expect lower yields. You can't push the nitrogen on rye like you can on wheat, due to lodging. I would consider trying to use a growth regulator on rye, but I am pretty sure it is not labeled (legal), so I won't do it. :) edit: if you are not aware, rye will head out earlier than wheat, but the grain will be ready to harvest after wheat is harvested.
Edited by martin 1/27/2013 11:07
|
|
|
|
SW Manitoba. | We grow rye and also have a grain company where we buy a lot if rye based on falling numbers, feel free to call me 204 522 5613 or email me and i can give you lots of information |
|
|
|
 Garrett County, MD | Not familiar with growth regulators, but wouldn't the regulator make the head smaller as well as making the plant shorter? Or doesn't it work that way? |
|
|
|
| on wheat, plant growth regulator is applied about a 7 -10 days before the wheat heads out. So, the size of the head is already determined. It will shorten up the stalk about 8" or so, and stiffen it up enough to make it stand better. I had a customer use it on winter barley. He liked what he saw. The difference in barley stalk heighth was not extremely obvious - you could see it was shorter - but he liked how the straw was stiffer and baled nicer. The product he used was Ethephon. You do need to be careful. I believe you can negatively impact grain yields under certain weather conditions. I believe hot weather at application time is a concern. |
|
|
|
southern MN | Rye is a great scavenger and gorows tall and heavy.
Be careful with the idea of adding N. Doesn't take much to make a mess.
Have a market for the straw, it is kinda course straw, but you will have lots of it.
Very tough rugged crop, plant it in fall, with a little broadcast fert if you feel you must, and let it be, it takes care of itself.
--->Paul
--->Paul |
|
|
|
Mid Minnesota | Dont grow rye myself but love , need the straw , used to be lots grown around here on the lighter soils, most guys have went to corn , bean rotations even on the bad soils, as a bad bean, corn crop still grosses much better than rye grain , straw at current prices, I beleive Im going to have to grow my own rather than purchases in fact will be seeding fall 13 for 14 crop , I can justify this for just straw production alone as i wont let the grain mature before cutting need clean straw for specalty crops mulch , will probably push some nitrogen to get max straw growth . If i could buy what i need probably keep this land in row crops , Maybe in your area there is someone that needs the straw also here was paying 55 dollars 5x5 rounds when i could get it, Wheat straw just doesnt work as well Thanks Dave |
|
|
|
NW Washington | You should beware that cereal rye can become a serious weed problem if it goes to seed, especially if you grow wheat. I think can be a pain to get into the combine too. |
|
|
|
Schochoh Ky | Rye does not respond well here , west Ky, to intensive management,pretty much going to yield 40-50 bushels no matter what you throw on it.We usually fertilize with 20 lbs pre n and side dress 40 liquid in middle of Feb . One good thing we noticed , it survived the severe freeze in 07 that smoked the wheat, it never quit growing. Good luck! |
|
|
|
S.E. Iowa | Berryman, If you would want we have 82 acres going for grain, and we are planning on baling it. We will have small squares, 5x6 rounds, and could hire a big squares. The guy who has the large squares also has semis. Trucking would be steep but if you could find a backhaul it wouldnt be so bad. This would be coming from Burlington Iow. E mail in profile. |
|
|
|
 Germany | http://talk.newagtalk.com/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=322525&posts=8...
years ago I got "unknown seed" for the last half acre of rye to plant,it turned out to be cover crop rye, not the cereal rye varieties we were used to. It grew LONG, lodged worse than anything I ever saw and the yield was marginal. Producing cover crop rye seed is not fun...
In our regular cereal rye we grow for bread flour we use 2 applications of ethephon with 7 to 10 days between, before the heads appear. Hot dry climate will make ethephon obsolete or harmful in higher doses. It works but does not do wonders. |
|
|
|
s.e. Pa | I grow a little, mostly for my own use as cover crop seed. I have gotten 1/3-2/3 as much rye as I do wheat yield. If the price of wheat is good, rye is not worth growing imo. It is easy to sell, but not as easy as taking wheat to the elevator. Must be cleaned, and most people want it bagged. With the cost of cleaning and bagging wheat looks even better. I don't put much N on. I try to use some manure in the fall or spring, and no additional N. If you push the N, it will go down and be a mess.
Josh |
|
|
|
Dills, FL | this info pretty informative, thou I have never come close to 5.9 T per Hectare!
|
|
|
|
| How does the yield of rye compare to wheat for you? I saw in your link that you are growing hybrid rye, is hybrid wheat also grown in Germany? |
|
|
|
 Germany | hybrid rye equals the yields of wheat on wheat here, but with less fluctuation and less input of chemicals. Wheat after oilseed rape or legumes is slightly higher in yield with less disease issues. Due to my observations rye is the most "faithful" crop here on lighter or mild loam soils, giving a very constant yield from year to year. Only the falling number and lodging is everything else but constant... The falling number is a measure of the quality of the starch, and is given in seconds. Originally it was the time a reference object took to drop down in a tube filled with flour cooked in water - the longer the better, as the starch is able to form a thick glue.
There is such a website as http://www.ryebelt.com/rb_start.html?L=1 , I like the expression "ryebelt" analog to cornbelt, showing that central europe has ideal conditions for this crop. But it´s only Germany and Poland that have a real tradition for rye bread. That can be "Schwarzbrot" or Pumpernickel, but much more rye goes to more palatable recipes.

Hybrid wheat is available but seed is very spendy and the yield improvement is not too great - in fact not existant compared to the best conventional varieties. In rye the improvement was 20-30% from the beginning on and a no-brainer so far. My personal theory is that allo-polyploid plants (wheat) have a kind of built-in heterosis effect that makes hybrid breeding obsolete. But that´s just my theory. |
|
|
|
| Grew it 1 year to make a killing in cover crop seed. Yielded 25 bu per acre so I didn't make my killing. A year or so later my dairy farmer neighbor didn't get to chop all his so he let a field go for seed. It looked beautiful. The custom combiner came in and didn't go 100 ft. They weren't getting any grain. The heads were barren. Problem is rye flowers earlier than other small grains and it susceptible to damage from a late frost. |
|
|