end all decision, wheat or rye?

[mikmaze]

for the life of me, I can not keep it straight, fall over winter cover/ food plot crop, is it wheat that gets the top honor, or rye? I have read it many times, but need a refresh as my brain is fried. so what do we all concur it is?

almost time to order seed and want to get it right once and for all.

 

[Boll Weevil]

My honest opinion...whatever's cheapest at the time. In my area it's typically wheat.

 

[hilltopper]

In Wisconsin's acidic sands? RYE everytime

 

[SWIFFY]

My vote goes to RYE!

 

[seadonist]

In Wisconsin's acidic sands? RYE everytime

Same in acidic sandy soils in south MS. You've got to spend a small fortune on lime to get anything to grow, except Rye grass. That stuff will grow at the bottom of the ocean. Only problem is that the deer generally don't eat it past the end of October/ beginning of November.


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[bbcoach]

Same in acidic sandy soils in south MS. You've got to spend a small fortune on lime to get anything to grow, except Rye grass. That stuff will grow at the bottom of the ocean. Only problem is that the deer generally don't eat it past the end of October/ beginning of November.


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Rye grass and Winter rye are too entirely different plants. Rye grass is a grass that is normally grown to control erosion, is used as a quick growing lawn grass or a quick greening grass for wintering baseball fields. Winter rye (grain) is a hardy grain that will grow throughout the winter months and provide deer with nutrition through the winter and into the spring. Winter wheat and winter rye make a Great one, two punch for wildlife. Plant both!

 

[mikmaze]

so far you guys are leaning towards what I thought you would....... only thing scaring me is the comment about them not eating it after November. I may have to plant a left right, wheat/ rye plot with a camera monitoring use.

 

[j-bird]

Cereal rye is more cold tolerant than winter wheat, BUT some will argue that winter wheat is more tasty to deer. I don;t know about that....I have never interviewed a deer yet that has given me a straight answer. I do know rye will almost grow on wet concrete as well. Some grew in the bed of my pick-up in nothing more than less than an inch or wet mulch! For me the deciding factor is what is the plan come spring time. In my area both will survive the winter. The rye will stay green a few weeks long er and will come to life a little sooner than the wheat.....however, food is NOT a major issue in my area. Now why what I want to do in the spring is important......is because rye will get twice as tall as wheat will in my area AND thy rye gets really tough and plays havoc on rotary equipment. So, that height can be great for spring cover if your going that route or that height is a disadvantage if you have to mow, spray or otherwise terminate it to put in your next plot. So I mix them and say hell with it! If I could only get one - I would choose wheat, personally, but that is because I hate cutting rye out of the tiller come spring time.

 

[seadonist]

Rye grass and Winter rye are too entirely different plants. Rye grass is a grass that is normally grown to control erosion, is used as a quick growing lawn grass or a quick greening grass for wintering baseball fields. Winter rye (grain) is a hardy grain that will grow throughout the winter months and provide deer with nutrition through the winter and into the spring. Winter wheat and winter rye make a Great one, two punch for wildlife. Plant both!

You are correct, and I misspoke. Winter rye is what most of the guys in my club plant and what I was referring to. I'm not sure why, but once it gets above about 6" tall, the deer seem to pass on it where I hunt. Could be the low soil ph makes it a little on the sour side.


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[4wanderingeyes]

I mixed winter rye, winter wheat and oats together and planted it. The deer hammered it all fall, then in the spring the deer ate the rye and wheat until it grew too tall, then they used it for cover. Then I planted in it and mowed it down. Then repeated. That is what I planted until my soil was good enough to plant other stuff.


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[swat1018]

They eat it fine at my place. But, I'm also a believer of a mix over a monoculture anytime. I'd do both.

 

[Tap]

Didn't Lickcreek prefer rye over wheat?

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[IkemanTx]

The real question is "what is your goal"?
Winter wheat "might" be more preferred in some areas over winter rye, in certain seasons.

BUT.........
What benefits do each species have over the other outside of simple preference levels?

Winter Rye beats winter wheat (outside of preference, which is debatable and site specific) on basically every other benefit a crop can have.

Winter rye is
-Allelopathic, suppressing undesirable weed seeds.
-Easily germinated, improving growth on sub par soil.
-Fast growing, providing a protective "sacrificial" crop for secondary species planted in the same stand.
-Organic matter producer, improving future germination rate, moisture retention, and nutrient holding capacity by quickly increasing the OM.
-Double season, providing early/mid fall food and becoming palatable in the spring before even clover.

Winter wheat might reasonably be able to be mentioned for two of these benefits, both of which are performed better by winter rye... those are "fast growing/nurse crop" and "OM producer". Once again... Rye outperforms winter wheat in both of winter wheats best attributes.

Winter wheat is left ONLY being able to claim that it MAY be more attractive to deer in some locations, in some seasons......

Unless your soils don't need building in any way..... Winter Rye wins.

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[Tree Spud]

for the life of me, I can not keep it straight, fall over winter cover/ food plot crop, is it wheat that gets the top honor, or rye? I have read it many times, but need a refresh as my brain is fried. so what do we all concur it is?

almost time to order seed and want to get it right once and for all.

There are no advantages to WW vs WR. WW will produce an edible grain and so will WR. The advantages WR has over all other cereal grains for fall planting ...

Can be hand broadcasted and will surface germinate as low as 32 deg F.

Once snow thaws, will green up Dec - April once temps hit 32 deg F. Deer will dig through snow to reach it.

It is allelopathic ... will suppress weed & grass growth.

Does not need fertilizer to reach full growth.

Will affix nitrogen in the soil to its roots just like clover.

At $10-$11/bushel it is the easiest and most reliable thing I have ever planted. Plant WR at 2 bus/acre in early Sept along with 7-8 lbs of red clover and you will have fall/early winter food and earlt spring green-up. Till under in late spring while green for green manure.

 

[4wanderingeyes]

I see no reason to not add winter wheat into the winter rye, and also toss in some oats.

Winter wheat also grows late into the fall, it also comes in rather early spring as well, just as well as the winter rye the years I planted them together. Also winter wheat isn't as hard to deal with in the spring, because it doesn't grow 5 feet tall. I like winter rye for the weed suppression, and I like the OM it adds, and I always add it to my plots in the fall, but it isn't a huge draw, so I don't put it in as a sole planting. I will either have a mixture, or seed winter rye into an existing standing crop.


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[BobinCt]

At least you have eliminated triticale and have it narrowed to Rye or Wheat.

 

[CedarSwamp]

I'm assuming you are planting it in a mixture with other varieties. I would plant both in the mixture with a higher percentage going into Rye. I actually skip the WW in my mixes because I plant Oats as well and I figure Oats will draw them early and Rye will draw them later.

We brush hog our Rye and primarily do no-till so don't need to worry about the tangled mess that Rye can make to a tiller.

 

[yoderjac]

for the life of me, I can not keep it straight, fall over winter cover/ food plot crop, is it wheat that gets the top honor, or rye? I have read it many times, but need a refresh as my brain is fried. so what do we all concur it is?

almost time to order seed and want to get it right once and for all.

Licking Creek had a great thread on that on the QDMA forum. His feeling was WR and I agree for most applications.

1) I get better germination rates when surface broadcast.
2) It is more tolerant of poor pH and fertility
3) It has better soil building characteristics
4) It has better weed retarding characteristics.

In my area, there is no real strong preference between cereal grains by deer.

The only real place where I see WW having an advantage is if you let it head out for turkey. It is shorter and younger birds can more easily reach the grain heads.

If attraction is the goal, the combination of WR and Oats gives you peaks that pretty much fully overlap WW. Of course, in the north oats generally won't overwinter.

Thanks,

Jack

 

[Bill]

Didn't Lickcreek prefer rye over wheat?

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He did because it was bullet proof and he didn't see a preference to one over the other. Jack pointed out other reasons ^^^

I've never tried wheat. I have tried oats and my deer hammer oats. Problem is oats die to soon for me..

 

[TreeDaddy]

We will still be debating this 10 years from now.......

bill