Create A Post Find A Mentor Suggest An Article

Jacob Roark

Fifth year trying planting soybeans into green rye. Honestly might be my last. Out of 5 I've had 2 springs where it's been so dry I've been worried it's going to pull too much moisture out of the ground, and 2 where it's been so wet that you can't get in the field until the stuff is 7ft high. This year definitely in the 2nd category. It's kind of miserable. The plants wrap around the closing and gauge wheels and are and absolute pain to get off. You can't see where the wet spots are until you're into them which just exacerbates the first problem. Plant 10 acres, spend 20 cutting stuff out of it. Should I have just left it and harvested the rye? Maybe, but seeding in August I planted 1 bu per acre so I didn't think it would pan out that well. Should I have just left it and collected pp? Maybe, but it's hard to make a living that way. At this point, I can't say I've seen enough benefit to cancel out the the hassel it's been.

Crop/Livestock Producer
3 Comments

jeff hamilton

planting it later would help control spring growth. at 1 bu per acre you have cut back seeding a lot but maybe go to 25# since you obviously have good ground. killing the rye first can help but sometimes brown straw can be a problem with the wrong weather. keep trying.

0 Comment
Mentor

Van Mansheim

I'm sorry to hear that you are having issues with planting into rye. Just a couple of thoughts and ideas. 1. Moisture management is very important....on the dry years I spray mine out very early. On the 1st of April, I begin to monitor moisture levels with anticipated upcoming moisture every week. The rye doesn't use much moisture until after the boot stage. If I believe I'm going to be short moisture, I terminate it right away. 2. On the wet years, it has been a blessing for me to let it grow as long as I can. I've drilled in 5ft rye with no problems except closing the seed trench. Which I fixed with more seed depth and down pressure. I know a guy that was having issues with wrapping this year...so he crimpped the rye first and then planted into it. I hope you can get things figured out because there are so many positives of having that green living root growing during non crop times. Please continue to reach out with more thoughts and concerns.

2 Comments
Mentor

David Kruger

Thanks for sharing Jacob. I have had limit to no success in the last 5 years trying also. I have had trouble getting consistent stand and the two years I did get a stand it ended up unplanted (to wet). I have had wrapping problems also in areas where there was a stand last year. I like the concept but am not sure why it is not working in our corner of the state. I know it came out of dormancy 2-3 weeks later than the rye by Redfield this spring. I wonder if that earlier growth helps get it to the point of removing water 2-3 weeks earlier. There is a couple fields of rye around me that just headed and pollinated last week. I have not given up yet but am scratching my head how do I make this work because 0-5 is not a good batting average!

2 Comments