Organic Winter Rye/Fall rye
Fall/Winter Rye is an old favorite. You can grow it as a cover crop and use the grain or use it as forage. Establishes in all types of soil conditions. Plant in early fall after fields or gardens are harvested. Can be frost seeded in early spring. (throw it on top of the snow!)
Plow or till under in the spring for soil building. Grain is produced when it reaches maturity. It usually dies back in the heat of summer.
Fall/Winter Rye is a traditional winter cereal cover crop grown on lighter soils to control wind erosion and build organic matter. Fall rye can also be used successfully as a forage crop, by grazing in the fall and spring, or by harvesting as haylage in May.
Do not confuse cereal rye (Secale cereale) with ryegrass (Lolium multiflorum or L. perenne), which are totally different grass species with quite different characteristics.
Fall/Winter Rye is best known for its ability to provide a cover crop that prevents erosion while also providing good weed suppression. Rye is very cold tolerant and is the hardiest and most disease resistant of the winter cereals. Winter/Fall rye has an extensive fibrous root system, can scavenge nitrogen very effectively, and utilizes early spring moisture to grow very rapidly. Winter/Fall rye is earlier and faster growing in the spring than the other winter cereals, including wheat, barley and triticale. It heads the earliest of all these fall-seeded cereals, enabling an earlier forage harvest and more "double crop" options.
Recommended seeding rates vary depending on establishment method. Drilling into tilled soil will require 60-110 pounds of seed per acre. When no-tilling into an existing sod, rates should range between 90-120 pounds per acre. When broadcasting or seeding by air, rates as high as 150 pounds per acre may be needed for a suitable stand.
