Database Research Summaries2018 Effective Winter Rye Management for Maximum Soybean PotentialNorth Dakota Soybean Council
Research Focus
The focus of this project is to evaluate a range of soybean planting dates with several rye removal strategies to determine best management practices for the region.
Objectives
- Determine the best combination of rye removal strategy and soybean planting date.
- Identify consequences (if any) of planting rye late, following corn harvest.
- Monitor trial for weed control differences among treatments.
Results
- Spring survival remained high through early October planting. The early November planting still had 60% spring survival, even though it did not emerge after planting in the fall. For some uses of rye this opens the possibility of planting rye after corn harvest, though winter cover and biomass production would be considerably lower than earlier planting. Mid-season planting into corn, or planting after an earlier harvested crop would increase the benefit of rye.
- The timing of rye termination is the biggest key to success with the rye and soybean relay. In our previous work with rye termination, we found glyphosate to be the most consistent method for termination. Since 2013 when rye was terminated 2 weeks prior to planting, there was no impact on soybean yields. Terminating the rye at soybean planting often had a similar yield to the check, but waiting until 2 weeks after planting often led to lower yields.
- Available soil moisture is what determines the success of soybean establishment. One of the assumptions of our research was that planting soybeans into rye earlier would be safer since the rye would be smaller and using less resources.
Importance
If rye can be safely planted throughout the month of October or even early November, the overall success rate of the rye/soybean system would substantially increase.
For more information about this research project, please visit the National Soybean Checkoff Research Database.
Funded in part by the soybean checkoff.
