Anyone growing hybrid rye?

[moretimeforgolf]

I’m growing rye for the first time this year. I’ve got hybrid variety Serafino.
It follows wheat, straw baled, stubble raked, drilled last week of September with JD750a.
The issue I have is that it is thin in the swath rows. I take it that it doesn’t like the toxins from the wheat chaff. Has anyone else had a similar experience?
I could drill with my Weaving Sabre Tine? Chop the wheat straw (Lexion with power spreader)? Or run the carrier over the stubble?
Any thoughts welcome.

 

[moretimeforgolf]

To add to this.
We used the sabre tine to drill wheat following spring oats which had the straw baled then had a pass with the stubble rake. No issues at all here.

 

[Cotswold Len]

This is my first year of growing cereal rye also. Drilled late September after wheat also but cultivated as not yet on a field that is in the zero till system. Crop does't look great tbh at mo as drilled late into not the best conditions and as hybrid also very low seed rate. However no issue with is being thin in the swath rows so the cultivating may have done something for that?

I like the idea of cereal rye but seed cost is quite high and couldn't find any seed which was undressed. Does anybody grow conventional rye to harvest rather than hybrid and how do you get on with that or is it the fact the rye is a hybrid that makes it a feasible crop?

 

[moretimeforgolf]

I’ve walked mine this morning. It’s moving on fast compared to the wheat, lots of tillers too.
The reason for choosing hybrid rye was that it is apparently less susceptible to ergot than conventional. Also more competitive against grass weeds and higher yielding ... but as you say, rather expensive seed and no option to home save.

 

[E_B]

Am strongly considering some hybrid rye this Autumn, strip tilled into maize stubble. Thinking about Serafino or Performer. Very light ground so looking for something that can tolerate a bit of drought, has some herbicide options and produce a nice bit of straw to be baled. Have done oats to death on that ground and ended up with a fair bit of BG. Can you remember the cost of seed?

Also planning on growing forage rye for the first time, after wheat, with the idea to cut for silage in the first half of May and then strip till in maize afterwards, moisture pending. Probably going with Humbolt for that.

 

[Ruston3w]

The last hybrid rye we grew they were asking so much they sold it by the hectare to make it sound cheaper, easily confused us simple folk!

 

[moretimeforgolf]

I bought Serafino for £600/12million seed pack. Each pack covers about 5ha , so £120/ha. Expensive but then other inputs such as fertiliser and fungicides are lower.

 

[martian]

We tried some non-hybrid rye, I think called Inspector, as we wanted to save the seed for following years. Never yielded that well, but cheap to grow, gave us a nice lot of seed to plant with home-saved vetch as cover crop/silage crop. Given up on it as last years crop was 50% volunteer spring wheat...not strictly the fault of the rye and the seed wasn't worth trying to separate. Sold it for pig food.

 

[Breakthru]

Hybrid rye here is the only thing that is welly high after the hard frosts and biting winds. Everything else has been stunned including the rape and gone backwards. 9mm rain March nothing in April <1mm.

 

[moretimeforgolf]

Hybrid rye here is the only thing that is welly high after the hard frosts and biting winds. Everything else has been stunned including the rape and gone backwards. 9mm rain March nothing in April <1mm.

Yep, the hybrid rye is really motoring compared to the wheat here. I hope it smothers the grass weeds!

 

[Daniel]

Ours is coming on ear now.

 

[moretimeforgolf]

Yes, coming out in ear here too.
Already got seed booked for an increased area this autumn.

 

[robbie]

Ours is coming on ear now.

Are you growing it for your own use????
Its a crop that interests me but as yet the contracts just don't seem good enough.
Seed price is a bit eye watering too.

 

[Daniel]

Yes own use. I think it was £30 under wheat on a buyback. I believe @Clive is growing it to sell, he'd know the purchase deals.

Seed price is high and I don't think you can farm save. Maybe if it takes off as a crop then the seed price will come down?

 

[robbie]

The 30 quid under wheat wasn't the issue, on the contracts I was offered it was 30 quid below wheat but you didn't know what the wheat price was it was all pooled and then sold in fits and starts through the year and you got an average price which I didn't like the sound of. The only guarantee was two payments of 30 quid through the year with a final balance but no one would put a figure on the balance it could have been £100 or £5
Also the buy back seed price was dearer than I could get the same seed from elsewhere despite them saying that they had a special deal on the seed.

I'd be interested to hear how it goes and what straw yield you get form it.

At the minute for me triticale seems a better bet, £10 below wheat into a easy local tip.

 

[Al R]

Why can’t you home save?

grew some years ago (su drive and kws magnifico) 17t/ha as whole crop and 3.3t/acre as grain and 2.3t/acre straw iirc. Crop was taller than 6’ high in late june.

 

[robbie]

Why can’t you home save?

grew some years ago (su drive and kws magnifico) 17t/ha as whole crop and 3.3t/acre as grain and 2.3t/acre straw iirc. Crop was taller than 6’ high in late june.

You can if you grow conventional varieties but most of the stuff grown now is hybrid so your not supposed to home save.

 

[Rihards]

We had been using home saved seeds from hybrid rye, it makes aprox 1t less per ha compared with oem hybrid seeds. But on our clay soils it was too short plants on m2 from bag seeds. With home saved we can really cheap increase seed rate and make better start. Now doesnt grow them as prises for grain is wery low compared with wheat. Wery good breaking crop for spring crops with lots of straw and underground root mass.

 

[Rihards]

We also never here use fungicides on them iņ my farm, thats what really makes them like good brake crop. We pūt them on sandy, low pH ground where normaly wheat comes too short with water to produce sensible yield...

 

[Daniel]

Ours is coming on ear now.

One weeks growth!