Incorporating Cereal Rye Into a No-Till Corn/Soybean Rotation For Erosion Reduction and Possible Grazing Use

Incorporating Cereal Rye Into a No-Till Corn/Soybean Rotation For Erosion Reduction and Possible Grazing Use

Summary

The fall of 2015 and the 2016 growing season allowed for excellent cereal rye establishment and provided for excellent grain yields for corn and soybeans in 2016.  Three sites of cereal rye were established in the fall of 2015 in Audrain, Lincoln and Franklin counties.  These plots allowed for the evaluation of cereal rye growth during the winter and early spring, followed by two sites being planted to soybeans and one site being planted to corn. 

Objectives/Performance Targets

Objectives include:

• Evaluate cereal rye for forage quality and growth pattern.
• Measure cash crop yield for response to the use of cereal rye.
• Share/Develop educational materials for local producers and agency personnel.

Accomplishments/Milestones

With collaborative efforts of Extension staff and area cooperators, three sites of cereal rye were established the fall of 2015, with two planted to soybeans and one to corn in 2016.  Cereal rye dry matter and forage sampling were conducted prior to burndown for the grain crop.  Typical rye growth

was less than 1000 lbs. of dry matter near the end of March, rapidly growing to over 5000 lbs. by the third week of April. 

Corresponding forage analysis of the cereal rye showed as with other forages as volume increased, quality decreased, though still providing quality feed at the 16 in. height (approximately 5000 lbs. of dry matter). Sample 1 of the results below has an estimated yield of 1 ton of dry matter per acre with sample 2 being a yield of ½-ton dry matter per acre.

Management of cover crops in the spring is crucial to a producer being successful in their use.  A spring management strategy will be developed based on:

• Cash crop being grown.
• Forage needs of producer.
• Spring cover crop growth pattern.
• Spring environmental conditions.

Aligning data collected from East Central Missouri fields with developed recommendations from Midwestern land grants for cereal rye termination would result in.

• Terminating cereal rye in late March (approximately three weeds prior to planting) at 8 in. or less of height prior to corn planting could result in ½ ton of dry matter.
• Terminating cereal rye prior to soybeans, producers can allow additional growth of a ton or more of dry matter.

The 2016 growing season experienced early season drought stress followed with excellent growing conditions from early July through September.  Early drought conditions contributed to early stress to corn and a delay in side dressed nitrogen uptake.  The early dry conditions also contributed to some other nutrient stresses on some fields in east central Missouri.  Yield data using a combine yield monitor collected from three sites with two being soybean and one corn.  Yields for 2016 for both corn and soybeans was excellent with corn not experiencing the excess moisture stresses from 2015.  Yield collected over the two-year period for east central Missouri is showing consistent corn yields to be elusive following cereal rye with bean yields being more stable.  Missouri producers growing corn following cereal rye will need to consider early termination, nitrogen management strategies, planter adjustments and scout for early season growing issues. 

Impacts and Contributions/Outcomes

Educational and outreach activities reached over 500 people during 2016 through various activities.  These activities included:

• Producer meetings in east central and southeast Missouri reached over 250 producers on how to incorporate cover crops in a corn/soybean rotation as a management tool for cropping sensitive areas to reduce soil erosion and help mitigate climate extremes.
• Provide educational information to over 60 members of the hypoxia zone task force. Experiences shared with agency personnel about voluntary efforts by Midwestern crop producers to reduce environmental impacts such as the hypoxia zone in the gulf.  Some of the management changes include adoption of no-till, extended rotations and incorporating cover crops.
• Provide technical training to extension and agency personnel. Over 60 personnel attended trainings on proper cover crop management and potential benefits.  This included how to manage in a corn/soybean rotation make use of for grazing and how they can be used to help mitigate climate extremes.
• Results of SARE programing shared with personnel university colleagues and crop producers from upper Midwest and southern Canada.
• A collaborative field day with University of Missouri Extension, the Lincoln County SWCD and Elsberry Plant Materials center resulted in over producers from a three state area and multiple counties in Missouri. Evaluations from producers show:  Information gathered from this year’s evaluations includes 52 attending with 60% being farmers.
• Average farm size being 700 acres.
• Over 60% of the producers attending are presently using cover crops, up significantly from earlier meetings.
• For producers using cover crops, almost ½ of their acreage has a cover crop indicating they have moved past the small try one field stage.
• Over 95% of attendees indicate they have some or a lot of knowledge about cover crops, which is higher than previous meetings.
• 100% of attendees indicated the meeting provided information that they could incorporate into their operations.
• 40% of producers indicate they will increase cover crop acreage in the next year, with almost 45% indicating they will begin to use some sort of cover crop mix.

Collaborators: