Winter Rye

Great cover crop and cheap feed source

Adam Kleiss

@moo4isu on Twitter

Reasons to plant cover crops

• Decrease soil erosion on fields that are bare

• Fight compaction

• Increase soil organic matter

• Source of cheap feed

• Government program payments

• Increase total revenue/acre

Aerially applied seed in August

Broadcast seed

• In dry years germination from unincorporated seed

• Still can achieve goal of holding soil

• Not recommended if you want to harvest the rye in the spring

• Lower yield

• Needs to be done before September 15

Drilling Rye

• Can no-till

• Can be done later in the year no later then Nov

Spring Harvest

Mow it into windrows Dry for 1-2 days Chop

Expected Results

• 3 tons per acre of dry matter if harvested at boot stage

• If heads come out the yield can increase up to 5 tons per acre

– Lower quality of feed

– This could end up being in mid June

Planting Into Rye

• Soybeans are popular

• Corn still an option

• Down pressure is key

How to Kill

• If harvested at boot stage the rye will come back

• We plant into harvested field and let the rye green up before we spray

• If harvested after heads are out we only spray once

Expected Yields

• 15 years of experience has given us a lot of yield variation

• Corn yield drag is mostly due to plant date

– Late planted

– Best Silage corn is late maturity

• Soybean yield drag is minimal

Downfalls

• Increased insect pressure

• Timely herbicide application is important

• Small window for harvest and planting– You can now legally insure the next crop if rye is

harvested

– Well drained soils are important

– Wet springs are terrible• 2012 was a dream

• 2013 was a nightmare

• 2014 was ok

Profit

• Boot stage 3 tons of dm/acre• Seeding cost

– Fertilizer $60/acre– Drill and one pass of tillage $28/acre– Seed 2 bushels/acre x $16/bushel– Feed value $150/ton– Harvest cost

• Chopping and packing $15/ton• Cutting $15/acre

• Total cost of $170/acre• Total revenue of $450/acre

More tons

• Headed out yield of 4.5 tons dm/acre

• Seeding cost of $60/acre

• Fertilizer cost of $60/acre

• Harvest cost of $60/acre

• Value per ton of crop $100/ton

• Total value $270/acre

• Later planting date of next crop also leads to risk of lower yield

2013 Soybean Yields

• 2013 yield results

– May 27 beans 57 bu/acre

– June 10 beans 53 bu/acre

– June 17 beans 48 bu/acre

• No till and till had no difference in yield

• It was wet while we were planting

2014 Yield Results

• 61 bushels per acre for soybeans

• 158 bushels per acre corn planted May 31

– Average corn yield this year was 161

– Average soybean yield was 63

• Very hot and dry when we planted so we couldn’t no till like we would have preferred

• We had to soil finish the rye to break through the crust that had developed

Beck’s Hybrids

• Beck’s has done some good research with planting cover crops

• Good data of different Nitrogen Application rates that prove the nitrogen scavenging ability of rye

• They offer different crop mixes

Sources

• Feed Values derived by Dwayne Gibbs vita-plus nutritionist

• Seed cost from Hall Roberts seed Postville, Iowa

• Harvest and seeding cost from Iowa State University custom rate survey

Conclusion

• Great source for low cost quality feed

• Excellent way to protect naked fields

• Increase organic matter in soil

• Bottom line $$$$ if properly managed