Home Plot ideas-can I plant rye (grain) in the spring?

[Derek Reese 29]

You may want to consider waiting to plant. Buckwheat germinates and grows more quickly in warm soil. The optimal soil temp (not air temp) for buckwheat germination is 80 degrees. Down here, I get the most vigorous crops waiting until mid-June to plant it. Look at your native quality foods in the area. The more abundant they are at the time your buckwheat germinates the better.

i was going to wait till late May or early June at the earliest..I think that plot that got hammered last year was planted in Mid May and we did not have a warm spring

 

[yoderjac]

i was going to wait till late May or early June at the earliest..I think that plot that got hammered last year was planted in Mid May and we did not have a warm spring

I'm in zone 7a significantly warmer than North central PA.

 

[Derek Reese 29]

thats true...i may do a 50/50 BW/oats mix so they get after the oats initially to allow the BW time to develop, even if its a bit too cold....although there were 40 deer in the field across the fence row from this plot last night..im hoping with more thawing that these deer will spread out as that field is the only south-facing ag field within a mile or so

 

[Bassattackr]

thats true...i may do a 50/50 BW/oats mix so they get after the oats initially to allow the BW time to develop, even if its a bit too cold....although there were 40 deer in the field across the fence row from this plot last night..im hoping with more thawing that these deer will spread out as that field is the only south-facing ag field within a mile or so

Tillage methods of getting rid of fescue involve 1) burning or mowing, 2) then discing deep or plowing, followed up by 3) cover cropping with extremely high rates of oats. Not that this is your scenario with fescue, etc. but I only bring this up to say that a heavy crop of oats will get ahead of most spring weeds & grasses, as they are very prolific and get a good start ahead of them. Then perhaps you can switch over come Aug/Sept for your fall plot.

Buckweat later is also another option, but I might think about discing/planting or spraying/planting after the initial flush of weeds as others have alluded to.

 

[Derek Reese 29]

Tillage methods of getting rid of fescue involve 1) burning or mowing, 2) then discing deep or plowing, followed up by 3) cover cropping with extremely high rates of oats. Not that this is your scenario with fescue, etc. but I only bring this up to say that a heavy crop of oats will get ahead of most spring weeds & grasses, as they are very prolific and get a good start ahead of them. Then perhaps you can switch over come Aug/Sept for your fall plot.

Buckweat later is also another option, but I might think about discing/planting or spraying/planting after the initial flush of weeds as others have alluded to.

I'm dealing with reed canary grass that's 2-4" deep in thatch so I think getting rid of that first would be the most important step...a neighbor just told me he has a tiller so i might try to burn, till, spray, wait a week or 2, spray then plant...by then it will probably be may so thats why i was leaning towards buckwheat (i guess i could still plant the oats then too)..thanks!

 

[Bassattackr]

I'm dealing with reed canary grass that's 2-4" deep in thatch so I think getting rid of that first would be the most important step...a neighbor just told me he has a tiller so i might try to burn, till, spray, wait a week or 2, spray then plant...by then it will probably be may so thats why i was leaning towards buckwheat (i guess i could still plant the oats then too)..thanks!

To get rid of fescue last year (also a pain) on our farm - We burned around April 1, then immediately tilled a few days later. Then disced hard around May 15 (6 weeks later) to chew through what came back. Then planted buckwheat, soybeans immediately. That got rid of about 98% of the fescue that came back after the first tilling.

Personally, I would go the oats route first to get ahead of any returning canary grass whether you till or spray. You can always go back and try planting the buckwheat into the oats later? Or lightly disc/till the oats and then broadcast buckwheat. FWIW.. Broadcasting buckwheat ahead of a rain worked well for me last year.

 

[Derek Reese 29]

To get rid of fescue last year (also a pain) on our farm - We burned around April 1, then immediately tilled a few days later. Then disced hard around May 15 (6 weeks later) to chew through what came back. Then planted buckwheat, soybeans immediately. That got rid of about 98% of the fescue that came back after the first tilling.

Personally, I would go the oats route first to get ahead of any returning canary grass whether you till or spray. You can always go back and try planting the buckwheat into the oats later? Or lightly disc/till the oats and then broadcast buckwheat. FWIW.. Broadcasting buckwheat ahead of a rain worked well for me last year.

so there is hope! glad to hear it worked out for you...im hoping the surrounding ag fields will take some of the browse pressure off the field and that I can get it to outcompete some of the weeds.

 

[Derek Reese 29]

Planning to burn this weekend, God and wind willing. I will spray once I see some some growth (thinking 2 weeks or so), wait another little bit (another 2 weeks or so), spray and plant a 50/50 or so oats/BW mix (Hopefully by early May or so). thanks again for all the help..ill try to get some pictures too.

 

[Derek Reese 29]

Planning to burn this weekend, God and wind willing. I will spray once I see some some growth (thinking 2 weeks or so), wait another little bit (another 2 weeks or so), spray and plant a 50/50 or so oats/BW mix (Hopefully by early May or so). thanks again for all the help..ill try to get some pictures too.

Got a pretty good burn done on Saturday...the canary reed grass was still kind of damp from Thursday's inch plus of rain but we got most of the thatch burned off and were able to see bare ground in spots...also tried out the new sprayer which performed very well...will wait a week or so for green to appear then spray with glyphosate, repeat in 2 weeks then plant...still deciding between rye or oats and buckweat....i had read somewhere that rye does better in wetter ground and this is definitely a wet area..

 

[Bassattackr]

Great looking area for a plot! (Or a thick stand of NWSG bedding )

 

[Derek Reese 29]

Great looking area for a plot! (Or a thick stand of NWSG bedding )

gonna try the plot first...bedding might come later if the plot "flames out" ...the closest side to the front porch is a 30 yard shot haha

 

[yoderjac]

Great looking area for a plot! (Or a thick stand of NWSG bedding )

Yep, that one hillside area need some perennial rather than regular planting to avoid erosion.

 

[Derek Reese 29]

Yep, that one hillside area need some perennial rather than regular planting to avoid erosion.

I plan to plant a 50/50 oats/BW mix in a month or month and a half or so after several rounds of spraying, then a perennial clover/WR mix in the fall and some frost seeding next spring...

 

[yoderjac]

I plan to plant a 50/50 oats/BW mix in a month or month and a half or so after several rounds of spraying, then a perennial clover/WR mix in the fall and some frost seeding next spring...

Wise choice. If food is the objective, I use perennial clover on my slopes to minimize periods where the ground is exposed to erosion.

 

[Derek Reese 29]

Wise choice. If food is the objective, I use perennial clover on my slopes to minimize periods where the ground is exposed to erosion.

definitely! trying to keep the ground covered at all times, might even try some brassicas with the rye/clover mix in the fall but mainly just want to get that clover rolling for next spring...my perennial clover on a different plot is the only bright green spot for miles and is getting hammered right now at all times of the day

 

[yoderjac]

definitely! trying to keep the ground covered at all times, might even try some brassicas with the rye/clover mix in the fall but mainly just want to get that clover rolling for next spring...my perennial clover on a different plot is the only bright green spot for miles and is getting hammered right now at all times of the day

I like the idea of using long-lived perennial clover on sloped ground and annual or short-lived perennial clover/cereal rotations on flatter ground. The less frequently I'm doing stuff on sloped ground the better. Less compaction, less erosion after termination (much less if tillage is used vs T&M), and overall less disturbance. I use my flat ground for biannual rotations. In my area, I've been using sunn hemp/buckwheat to cover the summer stress period and following it with a WR/PTT/GHR/Crimson Clover mix in the fall. I make slight modification to the mixes from year to year, but this is the general rotation I use on much of my flat open ground. Every year or two I'll "Rest" an acre of it. By "Rest" I mean that I substitute, medium red clover for the Crimson in a fall plant. It is a short-lived perennial and I get about 2 years or so out of it. After that couple year period of rest is over, I'll go back to the rotation in that acre and rest another acre. This rest period allows a healthy mix of weeds to return. I find that if I keep doing biannual rotations infinitum, that the burn-down herbicides favor some weeds over others. Over time a noxious weed that is less sensitive to the herbicide can dominate and become problematic. During the rest period, all weed seeds are competing with the medium-red clover and it seems a healthy balance is restored.

Thanks,

Jack

 

[4wanderingeyes]

Just a thought, being this is so close to your house, do you really want to have a thick plot at your back door? It will increase rodents, and bugs, spiders, and ticks into your yard and house. What I do in my plots that are close is just plant clover, and sometimes add wheat to the plot.

 

[Derek Reese 29]

Just a thought, being this is so close to your house, do you really want to have a thick plot at your back door? It will increase rodents, and bugs, spiders, and ticks into your yard and house. What I do in my plots that are close is just plant clover, and sometimes add wheat to the plot.

thats a good point, but there are already deer and other animals walking by behind my house (which is up the hill from my plot) within 5 yards of the back door at times.....i am trying to redirect them from the woods to the field...i already have mice and other fun critters inside the house and am working on keeping them outside...

 

[Derek Reese 29]

Figured I would give an update..I sprayed gly, then waited a bit (it was pretty scorched looking) and spot-sprayed, then seeded 80lbs of oats, 25 lbs of buckwheat and ~7 lbs of crimson clover on 4/24. Everything is growing, but so are the weeds! (this was not wholly unexpected, but I just didn't think there would be so many. Overall am very pleased with the plot so far, just hoping the deer let the oats and BW grow tall enough to maybe put in some brassicas and TNM in the late summer. I'll probably also spread a bag of rye for weed suppression purposes or maybe just skip the brassicas altogether.
This is looking down from the top of the plot towards the driveway.

Close up of some buckwheat and crimson clover starting to come up.

Little less zoomed in view of the BW, clover and some oats in this picture.
Thanks for all the guidance on this plot!