dbltree
Super Moderator
dbltree
Super Moderator
Checked my winter rye and pea plots on 04-02-2010 and was surprised to find that the 4010 Field Peas had survived the brutal winter and intense grazing while the more expensive Austrian Winter Peas were not to be found.
Both great options but with Austrian Winter Peas costing twice as much...yet not surviving the winter, the 4010 peas seem like a bragain and then some!!
The winter rye is the only thing growing so deer have been taking advantage of it and keeping it well "mowed"...
Hard to imagine a better combination then rye n peas if you need an all fall til spring food source.
Winter Rye and Pea Seed
Both great options but with Austrian Winter Peas costing twice as much...yet not surviving the winter, the 4010 peas seem like a bragain and then some!!
The winter rye is the only thing growing so deer have been taking advantage of it and keeping it well "mowed"...
Hard to imagine a better combination then rye n peas if you need an all fall til spring food source.
Winter Rye and Pea Seed
dbltree
Super Moderator
Winter rye has some distinct advantages over other cereal grains because it germinates easily at only a few degrees above freezing and grows at 34 degrees making it possible to seed it late in the fall and still get some substantial growth.
This comes in handy when overseeding into other crops or replacing a plot that has been decimated by deer early in the season.
This winter rye was seeded in mid October and is growing rapidly this spring providing early spring forage in addition to grazing all winter.
The following pics are where I overseeded winter rye (also on October) around the edge of a brassica plot where deer had decimated the edges.
You can see here that the right side is green and then it fades as the seed fell into brassicas that still had canopy preventing the rye from growing.
Same here on the left side
Winter rye works extremely well overseeded in late August into early maturing standing soybeans and will put on tremendous growth that will last long after the soybeans are gone!
Winter rye provides plotters with many options and helps hold whitetails on our property year around...
This comes in handy when overseeding into other crops or replacing a plot that has been decimated by deer early in the season.
This winter rye was seeded in mid October and is growing rapidly this spring providing early spring forage in addition to grazing all winter.
The following pics are where I overseeded winter rye (also on October) around the edge of a brassica plot where deer had decimated the edges.
You can see here that the right side is green and then it fades as the seed fell into brassicas that still had canopy preventing the rye from growing.
Same here on the left side
Winter rye works extremely well overseeded in late August into early maturing standing soybeans and will put on tremendous growth that will last long after the soybeans are gone!
Winter rye provides plotters with many options and helps hold whitetails on our property year around...
dbltree
Super Moderator
I have a bag of seed I will be planting shortly...ground is still a bit wet around here but I hope to get it planted before the end of the month. :way:
dbltree
Super Moderator
Winter rye really takes off early in the spring!
This is October planted WR on April 17th
This field has winter rye planted on left and right and winter tritical in the center. Saturday morning my son and I were hunting turkeys and watched a couple dozen deer feeding all over the field with no apparant preference for either WR or WT.
There is Falcata alfalfa and red clover planted around the edge of the WR/WT plot but deer fed in all of it and that is a very clear testament to the palatability of winter rye.
This pic just shows the various strips of alfalfa, clover, winter rye, tilled brassica plots now in annual clover all of which eventually get rotated.:way:
I would add also that deer have been grazing ALl of these food sources and not seeking out any one type of clover, alfalfa, rye triticale or anything else even though they could easily do so.
Some of those will soon be in sugar beets, long season brassicas, milo and soybeans...not that everyone need plant all of those things but strips of crops ensure we have year around food sources that hold whitetails and a means of easily rotating crops and still plant all types and combinations.....
This is October planted WR on April 17th
This field has winter rye planted on left and right and winter tritical in the center. Saturday morning my son and I were hunting turkeys and watched a couple dozen deer feeding all over the field with no apparant preference for either WR or WT.
There is Falcata alfalfa and red clover planted around the edge of the WR/WT plot but deer fed in all of it and that is a very clear testament to the palatability of winter rye.
This pic just shows the various strips of alfalfa, clover, winter rye, tilled brassica plots now in annual clover all of which eventually get rotated.:way:
I would add also that deer have been grazing ALl of these food sources and not seeking out any one type of clover, alfalfa, rye triticale or anything else even though they could easily do so.
Some of those will soon be in sugar beets, long season brassicas, milo and soybeans...not that everyone need plant all of those things but strips of crops ensure we have year around food sources that hold whitetails and a means of easily rotating crops and still plant all types and combinations.....
dbltree
Super Moderator
Usually clover is too aggressive to overseed with rye (or any cereals) it is possible sometimes to mow it close and no-till drill rye into the clover.
I don't plant any plot to one crop but as shown here I divide it so I can have seperate strips of clover, brassicas and rye (or corn, soybeans and alfalfa)
Ditto!
Rye this spring was very sparse in our overseeds from last fall into thick white clover. Fall growth of rye and oats was acceptable, however.
May try seeding then mowing close to cover this fall.
Better chance of it working in clover stands with less than 80% area coverage.
I know winter rye is normally planted in the fall, but can it be planted now? If i plant it now, will it die off by the end of july? I want to plant some PTT and barnapoli rape here at that time(end of july/begin august).
If it hasn`t died off, could i take it down with a weedwacker and a lawn mower with deck raised all the way and then disc it? and will a disc even do anything(chop up the roots) if the rye is still "green" when i disc it?
If it hasn`t died off, could i take it down with a weedwacker and a lawn mower with deck raised all the way and then disc it? and will a disc even do anything(chop up the roots) if the rye is still "green" when i disc it?
dbltree
Super Moderator
Yes it can be spring planted but will probably not have matured by your planting time. You can certainly disc it under with few problems but it will wrap around tiller teeth if one attempts that.
You can mow it first to shred it some and then disc it down. I would also mention that buckwheat might be a better option for a spring cover crop option...
Thanks dbltree...can you also elaborate on why the buckwheat would be a better option? Is it that it will mature faster or disc under easier?Yes it can be spring planted but will probably not have matured by your planting time. You can certainly disc it under with few problems but it will wrap around tiller teeth if one attempts that.
You can mow it first to shred it some and then disc it down. I would also mention that buckwheat might be a better option for a spring cover crop option...
The reason i keep asking about the rye is because of the beautiful pic i seen in the clover section...thanks again
dbltree
Super Moderator
I have went thru 5 cameras in 3 years and I can see a 6th will soon be required... but here's a shot of winter rye on 4-29
Now if you planted red clover (or white) last fall with your winter rye planting the clovers should be coming on strong at a time when the rye has out lived it's usefullness.
Alta Swede Mamouth Red Clover
Alice White Clover
Now is the time to go ahead and clip the winter rye off leaving the lush clovers behind to both feed deer and fix nitrogen thru the summer until they may either be tilled under for a heavy nitrogen user like brassicas or perhaps left in clover for several years.
If you planted rye alone then now is the time to till it under and plant a nitogen fixing legume such as annual clovers or perhaps chickling vetch.
This rye was planted in October to late to add clovers but this gives you an idea of the height
It tills under easily at this point
One pass is all that is needed to effectively kill the rye and prepare for the next planting but discing a couple times will also do the trick
Notice how clean the rye is with nary a weed to be found and unlike winter wheat, rye does not tiller as bad leaving plenty of space for clovers or peas to grow.
I already have annual clovers like berseem and crimson planted in my spent brassica plots so I planted chickling vetch in the tilled rye plots.
I added pea and vetch inoculant (be careful to store in a cooler while working in the field)
Easier to mix in a bucket but I often do it in the planting bag adding just a drop of water to moisten the seed
A view of the strip plots this time of year...the rye turned under planted to vetch will be again turned under in July for brassicas but in the meantime the chickling vetch will have fixed upwards of 200#'s of nitrogen to lower my urea bill
The annual clovers planted in the spent brassica plots will be tilled under this fall for another crop of winter rye, peas, forage radish and red clover...so the cycle of rotating crops continues. Doing so keeps my soils and crops healthy, lowers my fertilizer and herbicide needs and feed whitetails year around....can't beat that with a stick! :way:
Welter seed has a complete line of all the seeds involved in thiese plantings but always check your local Co-Op as well.
Now if you planted red clover (or white) last fall with your winter rye planting the clovers should be coming on strong at a time when the rye has out lived it's usefullness.
Alta Swede Mamouth Red Clover
Alice White Clover
Now is the time to go ahead and clip the winter rye off leaving the lush clovers behind to both feed deer and fix nitrogen thru the summer until they may either be tilled under for a heavy nitrogen user like brassicas or perhaps left in clover for several years.
If you planted rye alone then now is the time to till it under and plant a nitogen fixing legume such as annual clovers or perhaps chickling vetch.
This rye was planted in October to late to add clovers but this gives you an idea of the height
It tills under easily at this point
One pass is all that is needed to effectively kill the rye and prepare for the next planting but discing a couple times will also do the trick
Notice how clean the rye is with nary a weed to be found and unlike winter wheat, rye does not tiller as bad leaving plenty of space for clovers or peas to grow.
I already have annual clovers like berseem and crimson planted in my spent brassica plots so I planted chickling vetch in the tilled rye plots.
I added pea and vetch inoculant (be careful to store in a cooler while working in the field)
Easier to mix in a bucket but I often do it in the planting bag adding just a drop of water to moisten the seed
A view of the strip plots this time of year...the rye turned under planted to vetch will be again turned under in July for brassicas but in the meantime the chickling vetch will have fixed upwards of 200#'s of nitrogen to lower my urea bill
The annual clovers planted in the spent brassica plots will be tilled under this fall for another crop of winter rye, peas, forage radish and red clover...so the cycle of rotating crops continues. Doing so keeps my soils and crops healthy, lowers my fertilizer and herbicide needs and feed whitetails year around....can't beat that with a stick! :way:
Welter seed has a complete line of all the seeds involved in thiese plantings but always check your local Co-Op as well.
dbltree
Super Moderator
That's pretty close 50#'s per acre is probably plenty and it could be slightly deeper up to an inch perhaps. I usually just till, spread seed and cultipack to cover it and firm the seedbed.
Here's a couple links on buckwheat...
Growing buckwheat
Seed Source
The important thing to remember with buckwheat is not to plant too early, it's a warm weather crop normally planted mid May to mid June...
dbltree
Super Moderator
Here in SE Iowa we have recieved over 10" of rain over the past three weeks and it's not even close to being over with another 1+ forecast. Fields are flooded and if that were not enough a recent freeze may have killed thousands of acres of early planted soybeans.
There is nothing we can do about the weather (other then complain... ) but....this is a great reason why fall planted cereals and establishing clover with them, should be a part of every landowners program.
Those using a clover/brassica/cereal grain rotation can actually plant ALL of those things July thru September when weather is the least likely to be a problem.
Plant these crops seperately in blocks or strips in each plot and your whitetails will have year around food sources and you'll have a lot less stress during prolonged periods of wet spring weather...
There is nothing we can do about the weather (other then complain...
) but....this is a great reason why fall planted cereals and establishing clover with them, should be a part of every landowners program.Those using a clover/brassica/cereal grain rotation can actually plant ALL of those things July thru September when weather is the least likely to be a problem.
Plant these crops seperately in blocks or strips in each plot and your whitetails will have year around food sources and you'll have a lot less stress during prolonged periods of wet spring weather...
Chickling vetch came in from Welters today along with the pea/vetch innoc. Then I opened the bag to look at the seed....queerest looking seed I've ever seen. Thought I'd been sold a bag of gravel....so out came the knife to disect....sure enough seeds. Can't wait to get it planted.....prolly gly this weekend and plant a week or two later.
Originally ordered a 40 lb bag last week but got a call back and they had one 30 lb and the rest were 60 lb bags. Ordered the 30. Got the impression future orders would be filled with 60 lb bags. Just an FYI.
Originally ordered a 40 lb bag last week but got a call back and they had one 30 lb and the rest were 60 lb bags. Ordered the 30. Got the impression future orders would be filled with 60 lb bags. Just an FYI.
dbltree
Super Moderator
Let us know what you think of it and sow it "gently" if broadcasting, the seed cracks easily they say although I didn't have a problem with it.