This year we did not get the corn planted in anything like a timely fashion, so we took the crop insurance option of prevented planting. What this meant is that land would be available for planting a winter annual in August thru September. We purchased hybrid rye seed for thirty acres and got it seeded just after the fifteenth of September. It was seeded into what was by that time, very dry soil. It seemed iffy indeed, especially given the cost of the seed. Andy wrestled with the suggested planting depth of 3/4 inch and the knowledge that the soil was dry at that level. He seeded a bit deeper than that. Setting depth is tricky with our old grain drill, but a few days into October we were pleased to see the rye standing in narrow rows across the first part of the field.
Hybrid rye may be important to our farm. It is a high yielder, consistently doing over 100 bu/acre with much less in fertilizer and weed control expense compared to corn. It feeds as well as corn, while offering the animals a better range of protein and fiber.
Importantly for us, it is planted in late summer, which means that including it in the rotation opens an opportunity for manure spreading and tripping up the weed production cycle by interrupting weed control with summer tillage or mowing, something that is just not available with full season crops such as corn.
Moving heavy equipment such as tillage or big manure spreaders across the land in summer minimizes the risk of soil compaction. And increasing the diversity of crops grown is always a plus for soil health, as the life in the soil thrives on variety.
We will tell you more about rye as we find it out. We feel pretty good about our successful year with Kernza, good enough to take on another challenge!
