The economics on fall rye include lots of nitrogen says Wayne Nontell direct seeder at Tisdale. His mid-row banders are working great for getting agronomically sound application of anhydrous ammonia.
Wayne has had 2 years of direct seeding experience with Bourgault's 5710 air drill equipped with mid-row disc banders. He farms 12 miles south of Tisdale on soils ranging from silty clay to light loam and even some sandy loam. He says Adrian Johnston former Ag. Canada researcher with the Melfort Research Station encouraged him to use lots of N to make fall rye pay. Wayne says I expect to grow 90 to 100 bushels of rye and if I hit the market at $1.50 with low input costs I can still make a dollar. Two years ago the price was $2.80 - 3.00 /bu.
Fall rye really works on his farm because it is harvested before his spring crops. He is growing the semi-dwarf variety AC Rifle. Last year he grew both Prima and Rifle and the Rifle was about 18 inches shorter. He also notes that it headed later but matured about the same time and they spent a lot less time combining it compared to the Prima. David Struthers with Winter Cereals Canada says the newer variety AC Remington has some advantages, especially giving a more uniform stand. Rifle has a lot of tall off types in it.
Wayne seeded this year's rye Sept. 10 last fall into pea stubble. Pea stubble has a good fit because it is supplying extra N, but it is important to seed shallow. Wayne says he seeded about 1 inch deep even though it was dry.
He then knocked off the spoons on his air drill and banded in 100 lb/ac of N as NH3 the last week of Oct. Soil moisture conditions were very dry last fall and he did experience more loss of NH3 than he is comfortable with. Keeping your speed down to 4 or 4.5 mph certainly reduces the loss. He feels the best time to do this operation is early in the spring. Now that he is direct seeding, his ground is much firmer and he thinks he would be able to get it on early enough. The first year he purchased his drill he applied the NH3 in the spring and there was a lot less loss.
Although it is still obvious where the banders cut into the soil at the beginning of June they are 20 inches apart and have a very minimal effect on the crop. Indications are that the N had spread out enough to be available to the entire crop, as there was no yellow stripping.
Wayne does not find he needs any in-crop weed control but he does apply phosphate with the seed. Of course volunteering is a problem with fall rye and he thinks he should use some post harvest Roundup. Wayne also points out that you should have a grain drier in your system to grow fall rye because it takes a long time to drop from 18% moisture to dry in the swath.
One of the strengths of fall rye is its winter hardiness. But now that Wayne has made fall rye work on his farm he wants to try the challenges of winter wheat!