Cereal Rye
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yoderjac
5 year old buck +
Cereal rye is a great choice for a small plot. Tillage is a bad thing not a good one. Winter Rye will grow in soil that is infertile and has a poor pH. It surface broadcasts well. It makes a great nurse crop for perennial clover. The combination are browse tolerant.
You will get better nutrient cycling by laying it on the surface, either by mowing or rolling, than you will by tilling.
When you till plants under, bacteria gets first dibs on it, and nutrients are lost in the process. When you leave plants on the surface, without disturbing the soil, fungi will get a larger portion of it, and are better at returning those nutrients to the next crop.
When you till plants under, bacteria gets first dibs on it, and nutrients are lost in the process. When you leave plants on the surface, without disturbing the soil, fungi will get a larger portion of it, and are better at returning those nutrients to the next crop.
yoderjac
5 year old buck +
The OP said Cereal Rye which is WR.
Tree Spud
5 year old buck +
Some may not know the difference. Some BOB seed mixes put rye grass in their mix calling it a cereal rye grain. If you inadvertantly plant rye grass you will have a real problem on your hands.
4wanderingeyes
5 year old buck +
Grampa Rays sold me a seed mixture when I first started food plotting with "High Sugar Rye Grass" in it, 6 years later, and I am still trying to kill it off. The deer do eat it some when it is young, but it has taken over 1/3 of one of my plots, I spray it, it comes back a month later, I spray it again, it comes back strong the next spring. I have disced that area up heavely after spraying, I figured a double whammy, no such luck.
Now this stuff I could see would have a use, like on a steep hillside, and the deer do browse it, but I had planted it in one of my best food plot spots, and I pretty much have about 1/3 acre of it that chokes out anything else I plant in that area.
Now this stuff I could see would have a use, like on a steep hillside, and the deer do browse it, but I had planted it in one of my best food plot spots, and I pretty much have about 1/3 acre of it that chokes out anything else I plant in that area.
Tree Spud
5 year old buck +
I was not aware of that. My understanding has been you want the biomass in the soil (especially sandy type soils) so that it will hold the nitrogen.
S.T.Fanatic
5 year old buck +
It will become the type of soil you are looking for much quicker if you dont incorporate it. Plus that thatch will release the nutrients you are looking for slowly instead of have them evaporate. The other major factor is water holding capacity.
One percent of organic matter in the top six inches of soil would hold approximately 27,000 gallons of water per acre! When planting foodplots and not removing the majority of the organic material off of the plot you can build topsoil rather quick especially with Rye that is 5 feet tall.
When we look at plants we often only think about what we can see, and forget their root systems. Let plants like cereal rye, corn, sunflowers, red clover, and others provide the underground biomass.
yoderjac
5 year old buck +
Wow. I had not seen that. Ryegrass is not a cereal grain like winter rye. That seems outright dishonest.
Thanks,
jack
Crimson n' Camo
5 year old buck +
Correct.....but you want your OM in the form like the pic below. If you till it in then it'll just burn up quickly. Leave it on top and let nature work it into the soil and it will build......
yoderjac
5 year old buck +
Watch some of the Ray the Soil guy videos if you get a chance. He does a great job of explaining the principles behind no-till. Building OM top-down is a slow process. In the natural process plants die and the above and below ground portions die and are broken down by microorganisms. There is aerobic activity and an anaerobic activity. The anaerobic activity that occurs below the top of the soil operates slowly releasing nutrients over time. When you till in biomass, you do introduce it deeper into the soil but you also allow oxygen into the soil. This allows for more aerobic activity and the microorganisms can break down the biomass too fast. You get a short term surge but the natural tilth of the soil is disrupted and the environment that supports the beneficial microorganisms is destroyed. The soil then does not support the natural nutrient cycling process nearly as well. When you build OM top-down you support that natural microbiome and return the natural nutrient cycling ability of the soil.
One important factor in building OM is to balance carbon and nitrogen. That is why either through mixes or rotation, it is best to mix legumes (n-fixing) with grasses (carbon).
I certainly can't explain or demonstrate it nearly as well as Ray. Most of those videos are focused on large commercial farming operations but the principles hold and Crimson and Camo has done a great job of applying them to small equipment and food plotting.
Thanks,
jack
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4wanderingeyes
5 year old buck +
Sorry I had to
TreeDaddy
5 year old buck +
Correct.....but you want your OM in the form like the pic below. If you till it in then it'll just burn up quickly. Leave it on top and let nature work it into the soil and it will build......
This one pic encapsulates the importance of this entire thread
Thank you,Harold
bill
