Thumb of Michigan | ocfarms - 10/8/2017 13:25
What variety are you using and what is it that you like about that variety?
We liked Aroostoock. Its hardier than some other varieties we tried in that it'll grow longer into the fall and green up quicker in the spring. It also is noticeably smaller than some other rye varieties. Thats important because most of my rye was flown on. I could 30 to 50# per acre of Aroostock and still get as much or more cover than 100# or 120# of another variety might. Therefore, cost per acre to seed was considerably less. Plane could get more acres per load. Normally, rye gets ripe a couple weeks after wheat harvest here. We could usually go right from winter wheat right into the Aroostock and it would be ripe.
My comparison varieties when we were researching our needs were Wheeler and Balboa. Wheeler in particular yielded the best for us, but yield wasn't my main goal.
It seems that someone somewhere said that there are other rye varieties with some equal to or better characteristics than Aroostoock, so it may pay to delve further into it.
PS: we were selling seed as well as using it ourselves. We got a premium for Aroostoock due to its characteristics, although it wasn't an easy sell sometimes. Some people were going to put on 2 bu no matter what the seed size was. I didn't always get their business, and thats OK
Edited by pat-michigan 10/8/2017 14:37
|
Growing my own cereal rye, is this worth the effort?
