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Cereal Grains and cover crops

Beautiful looking farm, glad to see more members stepping up with the absence of Paul, who was such an amazing person and land steward.
 
Call any coop in your area if Welter's or whoever is unable to fill or for whatever reason you need elsewhere. Ask for the "guy who places seed orders" or something as simple as that. Only reason they couldn't or wouldn't be able to order it in is if they didn't want to take the time but I've never had a coop not able to order any of this.
 
Was out earlier this week spraying a soybean plot for the last time this year. When we drilled the beans our row spacing was fairly wide so it has taken them a while to canopy so some weeds are still creeping in. But the rye thatch has held back the majority of the weeds.

I put together this quick video showing the impact rye has as a cover crop for building the soil and helping future crops thrive. In our case it was soy beans.

VIDEO - The effects of Winter Rye as a cover crop


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We planted the rye last fall and it grew a nice food plot for the wildlife right away. This spring it was the first thing to green up and it created food for the wildlife again. We let the rye mature until around June 1st when we mowed it off in preparation for drilling soy beans into it. The rye thatch on top of the soil helps hold back weeds but most importantly helps conserve soil moisture, something this plot has always struggled with. It was notorious for drying out and we have never gotten a good crop of any sort out of this food plot... until this year! The dead rye roots below the soil surface are also having a huge positive impact on the soy beans. The best part is we should be able to broadcast rye into these standing beans this fall and do the whole process over again. Maybe we'll add some red clover this year as an additional cover crop to help add some N into the soil. Paul preached for years the benefits of cover crops and we are just starting to see how they really can turn some poor soil into something useful. :way:
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Do you have any fear of getting soil contact with the thatch this fall? I am planning on seeding a rye mix into my beans as well this fall. Are you able to do more years of continuous beans with this approach?
 
You know, I never thought about getting poor soil contact this fall when trying to over seed rye back into the beans but it is likely. We'll have to see how it goes. We obviously won't get perfect germination across the plot.

I don't know that it will let you do the bean rotation more. That's a great question though! I'd still personally error on the side of caution and mix it up and not do beans more than a couple years in a row, just my opinion.

And we did not spray the rye at all. We just mowed it before the seed heads had time to mature. We did have to watch out for fawns though when mowing! I drove the whole field with the 4whlr before mowing and didn't jump any and we mowed very slowly.
 
Rye will get to soil.
Rye does not create a rotation overseeding it and following again with beans. It does not break disease risk. U need a whole year without beans. Sudden death or fungus is serious with beans in particular. Don't mess with it. 2 years in a row with different bean types is all I'd ever do but that's me. Prefer to only do beans one year at a time and rotate to a variety of other plantings.... Corn, turnips, clover, whatever.
 
Great info Skip, that is what I suspected. I think we'll do beans one more year in here and then switch it out. Probably to clover to help build the soil some more
 
If I sprayed some of my existing oats/clover plots with Roundup getting ready to plant the rye mix, how many days do I have to wait before I can seed?
 
You can pretty much as soon as the Roundup (Glyphosate) is dry. It kills by being absorbed by the green plant. No residual effect on seed or germination.
 
Are you tilling first? You'll have a hard time killing clover with just Roundup. If your tilling no need for Roundup. Just mow.
 
I planted mine yesterday. Supposed to rain Monday or Tuesday. Would much rather be on the early side than too late. Have had too many times where I ve waited until first week of Sept. and then no rain for a few weeks and poor results. Last few years I have watched the forecast and tried to plant before a rain for both Brassicas and cereal grains with great results.
 
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