Growing of rye

Rye was considered a potentially useful crop due to foreseen issues in the long term with triticale:

  • Triticale fits well in the rotation but is very susceptible to yellow rust which is extremely yield depleting, time consuming and expensive to control
  • Varieties are not tested for disease resistance.
  • Breeders struggling to multiply up new varieties of triticale so it may disappear in the long run
  • Rye is less susceptible to take-all than wheat, barley and triticale (Important as this would be a 3rd cereal).
  • Benefits from early drilling
  • Seemed a good fit for a triticale replacement
  • Greater scope for grassweed control than in barley
  • BUT: Very little information available on growing and feeding rye grain to cattle, mostly harvested as wholecrop

Winter Rye Agronomy

Seed depth important

  • Do not drill too deep as rye is small seeded and does not have the reservesto emerge from depth; KWS advise 2cm drilling depth

Slug control essential in early stag

  • Consider Deter seed treatment
  • Particularly on lower seed rate crops (e.g. Hybrid Rye)
  • Avoid seedbed conditions conducive to slug activity

 Rye can get BYDV (Barley Yellow Dwarf Virus)

  • Consider Deter seed treatment and follow best practice advice for pyrethroid application as for any cereal crop
  • Aim to drill mid to late September, and seed rates should be based on time of drilling along with seed bed, soil and moisture conditions, ranging from 200 to 300+ per m2
  • At Upper Pendre the variety SU Cossani Hybrid from Saaten Union (Danish plant breeder) was drilled end September 2016 on a 6ha field at 200seeds/m2 and sprayed with pre-emergence herbicide.

Rye 9 December 2016

Agrochemical inputs

Rye 19 May 2016

Frost damage to emerging rye ears 19 May

In summary:

  • Unfortunately, late frosts took a portion of the rye ears as they emerged
  • Harvest was delayed due to wet weather
  • This resulted in a yield of 6.9T/ha (2.8T/ac)
  • The net margin/ha for the rye crop was a loss of £132.83 as compared to a net margin of £270.79/ha for triticale in 2017
  • The triticale yielded more (7.75T/ha) and costs were lower
  • The rye was disadvantaged by several factors:
  • Only field on the farm with any blackgrass
  • Rye is susceptible to mildew and brown rust
  • It needs a very robust plant growth regulator programme to keep it standing
  • It matures early in the season, thereby being susceptible to late frosts

Agronomy advice for cereals grown at Upper Pendre was provided by Scarlett Sentenbien, Agrovista.