Cereal rye quickly became a favorite among cover croppers because it tends to control weeds ahead of soybeans relatively well, especially marestail, and it can be planted later than most other cover crops. In fact, some people typically plant it in mid- to late November, up to around Thanksgiving.
Dennis Bowman, precision farming specialist with University of Illinois Extension, notes that while yes, cereal rye can be planted very late and typically still produce a cover crop in the spring, there are advantages to planting it earlier. Or look at it as penalties for planting very late. Because cereal rye still survives winter and often blankets the field the next spring, sometimes people don’t see the downside.
“We wanted to see if we could achieve more biomass with lower seeding rates by planting cereal rye earlier versus planting it later,” explains Talon Becker, Extension commercial agriculture specialist with U of I. “So, we set up a trial at four locations in Illinois in 2023 to compare planting dates and seeding rates. Then, we measured total biomass produced in the spring.”
Trials were conducted at Belleville, Ewing, Perry and Monmouth, Ill. Specific seeding dates varied across locations, but were typically mid-October, early November and late November. Seeding rates were 30, 60, 90 and 120 pounds per acre of Hazlet cereal rye. The project was supported by the Illinois Soybean Association and headed by Nathan Johanning with U of I Extension. Find the project report at fieldadvisor.org.
Planting date matters
Initial results indicate that seeding rate matters, but planting date is king, Bowman says. The earlier the planting date, the larger the amount of biomass produced by cereal rye.
The most biomass, just over 2 tons per acre, was produced by the 60-pound-per-acre seeding rate planted on the earliest planting date. However, several planting dates and seeding rates produced biomass total numbers that were not significantly different vs. the highest amount produced. In other words, biomass yields weren’t significantly different for all seeding rates at the early planting date, and all but the 120-pound rate planted in early November.
“If we did the trial again, cereal rye at those planting dates and seeding rates might be similar to each other,” Bowman explains. “There wasn’t enough difference to say with confidence that one date and/or one seeding rate was better than another.”
However, all late planting dates produced significantly less biomass. The lowest amount came from seeding 30 pounds per acre in late November, and the second lowest amount from seeding 60 pounds per acre at that time.
The trial was repeated at all locations, with data collected in the spring of 2024. An even earlier planting date of Sept. 29 was included at Belleville. Results were similar, with the early planting date at 60 pounds per acre producing the most biomass when cereal rye was terminated at 24 inches.
Bowman concludes that while you can still get a cereal rye cover crop by planting in mid- to late November, if you want more biomass, plant earlier. Higher biomass amounts are especially important if you graze cover crop acres in the spring.
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