Wholecrop rye

[nick...]

I’ve had someone ask if I’d grow some for him this afternoon and it could be a goer as a break crop.im assuming it’s pretty much the same as growing cereals but know nothing about it so could someone fill me in please
Nick...

 

[DRC]

I wouldn’t say it’s a break crop as such, but it’s main advantage to me is it’s very early harvest for AD. End June / early July , so can drill forage crops afterwards like stubble turnips https://mediamaster.kws.com/01_Prod...-Data-Sheets/KWS-Hybrid-Rye-Guide-2019-20.pdf

 

[DRC]

 

[Flat 10]

Not a break crop. Might be more attractive if they spread digestate on field afterwards. Might be cut off before BG seed viable?

 

[warksfarmer]

I’ve had someone ask if I’d grow some for him this afternoon and it could be a goer as a break crop.im assuming it’s pretty much the same as growing cereals but know nothing about it so could someone fill me in please
Nick...

Tried 60 acres last year. Silaged 55 acres and combined 5 acres for seed and to try the straw. Very easy crop to grow. 125kg/ha seed in September. It’s slow to get going but when it does it smoothers ALL grass seeds out. You need 2 x growth regs as we only put 1 on and it went flat in places. The harvesters then struggled to lift it. No P & K. 150kg N. 1 x Fungicide. I’d have to check but I think the foraged but did about 14t/ac and the grain bit 3t and straw 2t/acre. It’s a limited market though and £25/t for the foraged stuff is about all you’ll get.

 

[DRC]

Tried 60 acres last year. Silaged 55 acres and combined 5 acres for seed and to try the straw. Very easy crop to grow. 125kg/ha seed in September. It’s slow to get going but when it does it smoothers ALL grass seeds out. You need 2 x growth regs as we only put 1 on and it went flat in places. The harvesters then struggled to lift it. No P & K. 150kg N. 1 x Fungicide. I’d have to check but I think the foraged but did about 14t/ac and the grain bit 3t and straw 2t/acre. It’s a limited market though and £25/t for the foraged stuff is about all you’ll get.

The crop I pictured was 16.5 ton and we got £30 ton, so grossed £495 with no harvesting costs etc. This years won’t yield as well for obvious reasons .

 

[Durry cows]

I’m very interested in planting rye with vetch after maize (subject to conditions) to harvest the following may before going back to maize. Would anyone have any pictures/experience of the crop in may ie how many tons/acre roughly? Thanks

 

[Al R]

Tried 60 acres last year. Silaged 55 acres and combined 5 acres for seed and to try the straw. Very easy crop to grow. 125kg/ha seed in September. It’s slow to get going but when it does it smoothers ALL grass seeds out. You need 2 x growth regs as we only put 1 on and it went flat in places. The harvesters then struggled to lift it. No P & K. 150kg N. 1 x Fungicide. I’d have to check but I think the foraged but did about 14t/ac and the grain bit 3t and straw 2t/acre. It’s a limited market though and £25/t for the foraged stuff is about all you’ll get.

I did the same but on treble the acreage. 17t/acre average over the weighbridge cut late June (28-30%DM) combined 9 acre and had 3.3t/acre and 2.5t/acre straw. It was over 6’ tall as pulling wild oats in it was a no go as you couldn’t see where you were at all.

treated it like WW but dropped 1 of the fert applications and Dropped 2 fungicides and put another stiffener on it. SU Drive and KWS Magnifico were the 2 varieties I tried, both yielded very similar and I think from memory that 1 was taller than the other but they both yielded the same.

 

[deleted user 837354]

Rye and triticale are fine, some of the hybrid stuff can be very expensive when it comes to seed costs. Triticale I understood had a better amino acid profile than wheat, might have imagined that.

Neither rye nor triticale want to be mauled into dirt. If it's getting late and the weather is pants drill wheat instead.

Go steady with nitrogen applications, don't be shy with PGR. Forget any talk of 'immune to disease'- it can be a magnet for rust, fortunately this is easily controlled.

Thickness of crop also contributes to yield, not just height. I've heard people talk of 18 tonnes/acre freshweight which I can believe.

Not all herbicides are approved for rye/triticale.

 

[Fraserb]

I’m very interested in planting rye with vetch after maize (subject to conditions) to harvest the following may before going back to maize. Would anyone have any pictures/experience of the crop in may ie how many tons/acre roughly? Thanks

We planted in September and mowed it on the 18th of May then chopped on 20th, 34 t/ha at 33%dm, this wouldn't have been the best springs for growth though.

 

[Durry cows]

We planted in September and mowed it on the 18th of May then chopped on 20th, 34 t/ha at 33%dm, this wouldn't have been the best springs for growth though.

Any pictures? Daft question had it headed by then and have you an analysis? Of the forage?

 

[Fraserb]

Any pictures? Daft question had it headed by then and have you an analysis? Of the forage?

It had headed, don't think the analysis is back yet, can ask boss though.

Only photos I got were of the forager going.

 

[Al R]

It had headed, don't think the analysis is back yet, can ask boss though.

Only photos I got were of the forager going.

grouper or raked? I take it corncracker wasn’t needed so issue of stones not as critical as when a cracker is involved ( I’ve ruined one of those before when someone swathed WB and I picked up with grass header and a pebble went in)

 

[Fraserb]

grouper or raked? I take it corncracker wasn’t needed so issue of stones not as critical as when a cracker is involved ( I’ve ruined one of those before when someone swathed WB and I picked up with grass header and a pebble went in)

Raked, no cracker involved. The forager does have a stone detector fitted, it went off a couple of times.

 

[DaveGrohl]

We had a fabulous crop of hybrid rye last year. Perfect year for it. 19.5 t/acre average, weighed over a weighbridge as it was taken out of the pit (so not pub weight) at 33 %DM. Cheap crop to grow. Then we followed that success up with a disastrous sowing campaign, complete washout, which ultimately ended with the little we got drilled being ploughed out for spring barley.

Every year's a school year. Weather's a fekker. We will grow it again.

 

[teslacoils]

Not a break crop. Might be more attractive if they spread digestate on field afterwards. Might be cut off before BG seed viable?

Should not be relied on to reduce BG or to be cut before seeds are ripe or shed. Best entry for osr, in the days when that was grown!

 

[jack6480]

Is there a market for combining it and selling the grain?

 

[warksfarmer]

The crop I pictured was 16.5 ton and we got £30 ton, so grossed £495 with no harvesting costs etc. This years won’t yield as well for obvious reasons .

That’s a great return.

 

[warksfarmer]

Should not be relied on to reduce BG or to be cut before seeds are ripe or shed. Best entry for osr, in the days when that was grown!

Depends on the variety. I saw some trials where BG was completely gone if a certain variety was planted. We planted it on a very bad BG field and we subsequently couldn’t find a BG in the field until the crop was foraged or combined. It’s definitely surpressed it.

 

[teslacoils]

Depends on the variety. I saw some trials where BG was completely gone if a certain variety was planted. We planted it on a very bad BG field and we subsequently couldn’t find a BG in the field until the crop was foraged or combined. It’s definitely surpressed it.

Comes down to when contractor can get it cleared and how shouty you are. It's fairly early drilled, and reliant on the same chem as barley.