Still Time to Seed Winter Rye
  to Boost Forage Inventories

There are a number of dairy producers in the county that routinely seed winter rye in the fall with the intent of harvesting it as forage the next spring. Among the commonly grown winter cereals, winter rye has some unique characteristics. First, it is very winterhardy and will usually survive even the winters when wheat suffers substantial injury or kill. Also, winter rye is one of the first crops to green-up in the spring and will often be in the boot stage by June 1. This allows for planting either silage corn or soybeans following a winter rye harvest.

Dry matter yields for winter rye harvested in the boot to early heading stages of growth will often reach 3 tons of dry matter per acre. This is lower than winter wheat forage yields but significantly more than any of the spring sown small grains harvested for forage. From a forage quality standpoint, winter rye will have a higher crude protein percent than winter wheat. Winter rye crude protein concentration usually is between 13 and 14 percent if adequately fertilized with nitrogen.

The optimum planting date for winter rye is between September 15th and 25th, however, later planting dates can also prove successful. Seed at a rate of 90 pounds per acre and apply about 50 pounds of nitrogen in the spring as would be the case with winter wheat.