Hybrid rye might just be the closest a producer can come to a one-size-fits-all solution for feeding cattle, attendees at a recent webinar were told.
“There’s a lot of flexibility to it,” said Nathan Penner, commercialization manager at FP Genetics. “The thing I like about it is there’s options to use it in multiple different ways within a cropping system.
“I don’t think it’s a silver bullet for every farm, but I do think it’s a great contender within a whole system.”
Hybrid rye has been around since the late 1980s, when the first varieties were introduced in Europe, but it wasn’t until 2014 that ones were commercialized for the Canadian market. Since then, hybrid rye has been gaining traction among Alberta cattle feeders as a high-quality source of forage, grain, silage and greenfeed.
“It’s an excellent source of energy and nutrients,” Penner said during the webinar put on by Grey Wooded Forage Association. “When we’re comparing it to other crops, it would have the same energy value as barley, approximately 90 per cent of corn, and 88 per cent of wheat.
But beyond being a highly digestible, high-protein feed source, the crop also offers hybrid vigour, which increases its yield potential.
“The vigour results in improved yields, aggressive rooting, and tillering,” said Penner. “A lot of that hybrid vigour comes out in the establishment — how well it establishes and gets started, which builds on the yield possibility that these varieties have.”
That extensive rooting system also improves the plants’ ability to absorb water and nutrients — and with last year’s drought conditions and the current high price of inputs, “this is where hybrid rye can shine,” said Penner.
“This is a plant that can really make use of whatever you provide for it,” he said. “It’s able to scavenge the ground quite efficiently. If you compare hybrid rye with, say, wheat, it’s about 20 per cent more efficient to produce a bushel of rye compared to wheat. So if you’re short of water or nutrients, the rye is going to put out more bushels than a wheat would.”
And because of when it’s generally seeded — from mid-August to mid-September (depending on the region) — the crop is able to use fall moisture to establish itself before the snows come.
“We typically get some decent fall rains, and this is a way to get ground cover — get a living root in the ground in the fall and make good use of that moisture,” said Penner, adding ground cover also reduces erosion and nutrient leaching.
A winter crop also provides another advantage.
“Because of the timing when hybrid rye is heading, fusarium head blight is a small issue. It’s out of that window when infection typically occurs with other cereals. That’s a real advantage to growing the rye.”
As a result, hybrid rye is a good rotational crop.
“If we can grow something that works well in a rotation and gives us some help on the environmental management side, that’s just another benefit,” said Penner.
He also said hybrid rye, like its conventional cousin, is very hardy.
“There was a bit of a perception when it first came to Canada that it wasn’t as winter hardy, but we’ve seen over the years growing it here on the Prairies that the winter hardiness is really good on these varieties. Sometimes I see a conventional rye do a little bit better, but we’re right up close to where an open-pollinated rye would be for winter hardiness. I would suggest that we’re even a little bit better than where winter wheat typically is.”
Growing the crop
But establishment is critical for a winter crop.
“We’re asking these rye plants to survive Canadian weather for 11 months,” said Penner. “That’s a long time for those plants to be in the ground, so we want to start them in the best possible way to give them the best chance of success.”
A well-drained field is key as hybrid rye doesn’t like “wet feet.”
“It doesn’t like sitting in water in the spring. That’s typically when we get the injury or winterkill.”
When seeding, earlier is better — both for root establishment and tillering. Penner recommends a target of 15 to 18 plants per square foot and not seeding too deep.
“We recommend three-quarters of an inch deep to get that really uniform quick pop out of the ground and get that crop started well,” he said. “It will grow if you push it down deeper, but it’s going to come out much more uneven, which impacts how well they’ll produce the following year.”
Nutrients should be applied as early as possible, as the crop uses between 80 to 90 per cent of the available nitrogen before stem elongation, which occurs very early in the growing season (before May long weekend).
And while hybrid rye is “very efficient” at using the available nutrients, a fertilization program similar to wheat will result in higher yields.
“We often use a formula of 1.2 pounds of nitrogen per bushel, so if you’re targeting 100 bushels an acre, you would be looking for 120 pounds of nitrogen to get the maximum amount.”
Hybrid rye starts growing once the temperatures climb above zero, so an early-spring assessment will help set expectations for yield potential as the growing season progresses, he added.
“It’s one of the early crops to get going in the spring, so we recommend getting out there early and making sure you’ve got a good stand.”
Seed availability shouldn’t be an issue for most varieties this year, so producers who are considering hybrid rye as a feeding option this year should start their research now.
“I would encourage you to talk to your agronomist and see what the best management strategy is on your farm,” said Penner.
“You’ve got to think about what your operation looks like, what needs you have, and how this can fit within the system you have to manage some risk on the farm.”
The post Hybrid rye brings flexibility and vigour for cattle feeders appeared first on Alberta Farmer Express.
