Tag Archives: annual ryegrass

New to Cover Crops? Read this News Article about Annual Ryegrass and Radishes.

Long time Illinois farmer Sonny Snyder learned this year that cover crops are a money saver, a soil saver and, with success, a revenue enhancer…although he’s had to spend some time learning new management techniques.

Click here for the story. Here’s an excerpt:

After more than 50 years of farming, Sonny Snyder last fall planted a crop he never intended to harvest.

At first mention, the idea seems an odd use of time and money. Yet, a growing number of corn and soybean farmers like Snyder are trying it throughout the state to improve their soils.

Farmers call them cover crops, and the re-born concept seems one of the hottest topics in the agriculture industry, said Russ Higgins, commercial agriculture educator with University of Illinois Extension and a representative of the Midwest Cover Crops Council.

Cover crops, such as radishes and ryegrass, are a secondary crop planted in the fall to protect and improve soil conditions during the period of time when crops normally wouldn’t grow, he said. Illinois farm fields, unless planted to harvestable crops like winter wheat or multiple seasons of alfalfa hay, generally rest unused in a six- to seven-month window of cool or cold weather.

“For a long time, I’ve been concerned about taking our crop off our fields and there’s six months before there’s anything back on it,” said Snyder, who farms near Yates City with his son Scott.

Tracking N Loss in Midwest – Look at Cover Crops!

Studying the retention of inorganic N after last year’s drought was revealing. An Illinois team of researchers determined from 151 samples statewide that an average equivalent of 140 lb of N per acre was left over from 2012! (More than half was resident in the top foot of soil while the rest was in the second foot.)

Click here to read the whole article in No-Till Farmer.

The study also looked at how much of that  N was being lost this spring and found that between 20 – 50 lb/ac had been lost. The researchers speculate that some may be below the two-foot depth but said that with spring rains, drain tiles were showing dramatic increases of nitrates.

What the article didn’t mention is that annual ryegrass and other cover crops are superb crops to soak up that N available in the soil.

For more information about annual ryegrass, click here.

Burndown Advice for Annual Ryegrass

Now’s the Time to Begin to Take Out Your Annual Ryegrass Cover Crop
1. Timing is important. Late March – Mid April, depending on Midwest location
a. Burndown when the plant is 6 – 12”, before 1st node develops
b. Allow 5 – 7 days after annual ryegrass has begun to actively grow before spraying

2. Temperature is crucial. Should be above 60° F
a. Spray on a sunny day if possible
b. Wait a few days if nighttime temps dip below 38°F
c. Soil temperature should be above 45°F
d. Stop spraying about 4 hours before sunset to allow for max. translocation within the plant.

3. Coverage. Be thorough, use medium spray droplet and moderate pressure
a. Use flat fan nozzles, at 30 – 40 psi
b. Don’t use air induction nozzles that produce a course droplet size.

4. Primary application. One application of glyphosate may be enough for burndown
a. However, plan for two applications, using herbicide with a different mode of action
b. Scout the fields afterwards to ensure annual ryegrass is dead (it may look brown but can grow back)
c. Glyphosate use. Apply at 1.25 – 1.5 lb. a.e./a
d. Add ammonium sulfate and a surfactant
e. Adjust pH and follow mixing directions on the label carefully
f. When using additives, mix them first for 3 – 5 minutes in a full tank of water, before adding the glyphosate; water should be free of clay particles.

5. Precautions, and other herbicides to use when planting corn
a. Never mix atrazine or Callisto with glyphosate (ryegrass control will diminish)
b. Adding 1lb a.e./a Princep (simazine) improves weed control (not in sandy soil)
c. Use of Balance Pro, Prowl H2O, Resolve Q or Basis Blend, 2,4-D, Axiom at full label rate for residual weed control.

6. Use of other herbicides when planting soybeans
a. After beans emerge, annual ryegrass escapes can be controlled with full rates of SelectMax, Poast Plus or Fusilade DX.
b. Use fertilizer, surfactant, crop oil as label-directed. Less effective in cold temps.

Annual Ryegrass and Nitrogen Uptake

A recent article by Farm Journal writer Darrel Smith, talked about a nitrogen study with different cover crops, and the importance in managing the burn down so as to maximize nitrogen uptake by corn and beans.

Farm Progress worked with Dan Towery and Ken Ferrie on the project. The following paragraphs are from the article. To read the entire article, click above on the Farm Journal highlight.

“Annual ryegrass is a nitrogen scavenger, and has a relatively low C/N ratio—as low as 17/1 if you burn it down early,” Towery says. “Because the annual ryegrass was planted into wheat stubble, it may not have taken up much nitrogen because there wasn’t much in the soil to begin with—possibly less than 20 lb. per acre. I’ve seen annual ryegrass take up much more nitrogen than that—90 lb. to 120 lb. per acre, depending on field history.

“The low C/N ratio of annual ryegrass means that typically 50% to 75% of that nitrogen becomes available to corn plants six to 10 weeks after it is killed in the spring—in late June or early July,” Towery continues. “Often, corn fields following an annual ryegrass cover will be dark green, or even almost black in July. That has to be from the nitrogen mineralized from the annual ryegrass, and the absence of a carbon penalty, resulting from the crop’s low C/N ratio.

 

Annual Ryegrass Control – Tips for Qualtity Results with Herbicide

Now’s the Time to Begin to Take Out Your Annual Ryegrass Cover Crop
1. Timing is important. Late March – Mid April, depending on Midwest location
a. Burndown when the plant is 6 – 12”, before 1st node develops
b. Allow 5 – 7 days after annual ryegrass has begun to actively grow before spraying

2. Temperature is crucial. Should be above 60° F
a. Spray on a sunny day if possible
b. Wait a few days if nighttime temps dip below 38°F
c. Soil temperature should be above 45°F
d. Stop spraying about 4 hours before sunset to allow for max. translocation within the plant.

3. Coverage. Be thorough, use medium spray droplet and moderate pressure
a. Use flat fan nozzles, at 30 – 40 psi
b. Don’t use air induction nozzles that produce a course droplet size.

4. Primary application. One application of glyphosate may be enough for burndown
a. However, plan for two applications, using herbicide with a different mode of action
b. Scout the fields afterwards to ensure annual ryegrass is dead (it may look brown but can grow back)
c. Glyphosate use. Apply at 1.25 – 1.5 lb. a.e./a
d. Add ammonium sulfate and a surfactant
e. Adjust pH and follow mixing directions on the label carefully
f. When using additives, mix them first for 3 – 5 minutes in a full tank of water, before adding the glyphosate; water should be free of clay particles.

5. Precautions, and other herbicides to use when planting corn
a. Never mix atrazine or Callisto with glyphosate (ryegrass control will diminish)
b. Adding 1lb a.e./a Princep (simazine) improves weed control (not in sandy soil)
c. Use of Balance Pro, Prowl H2O, Resolve Q or Basis Blend, 2,4-D, Axiom at full label rate for residual weed control.

6. Use of other herbicides when planting soybeans
a. After beans emerge, annual ryegrass escapes can be controlled with full rates of SelectMax, Poast Plus or Fusilade DX.
b. Use fertilizer, surfactant, crop oil as label-directed. Less effective in cold temps.

Annual Ryegrass Control

Timely Tips for Termination
1. Timing is important. Late March – Mid April, depending on Midwest location
a. Burndown when the plant is 6 – 12”, before 1st node develops
b. Allow 5 – 7 days after annual ryegrass has begun to actively grow before spraying

2. Temperature is crucial. Should be above 60° F
a. Spray on a sunny day if possible
b. Wait a few days if nighttime temps dip below 38°F
c. Soil temperature should be above 45°F
d. Stop spraying about 4 hours before sunset to allow for max. translocation within the plant.

3. Coverage. Be thorough, use medium spray droplet and moderate pressure
a. Use flat fan nozzles, at 30 – 40 psi
b. Don’t use air induction nozzles that produce a course droplet size.

4. Primary application. One application of glyphosate may be enough for burndown
a. However, plan for two applications, using herbicide with a different mode of action
b. Scout the fields afterwards to ensure annual ryegrass is dead (it can appear brown but may grow back)
c. Glyphosate use. Apply at 1.25 – 1.5 lb. a.e./a
d. Add ammonium sulfate and a surfactant
e. Adjust pH and follow mixing directions on the label carefully
f. When using additives, mix them first for 3 – 5 minutes in a full tank of water, before adding the glyphosate;
water should be free of clay particles.

5. Precautions, and other herbicides to use when planting corn
a. Never mix atrazine or Callisto with glyphosate (ryegrass control will diminish)
b. Adding 1lb a.e./a Princep (simazine) improves weed control (not in sandy soil)
c. Use of Balance Pro, Prowl H2O, Resolve or Basis, 2,4-D, Axiom at full label rate for residual weed control.

6. Use of other herbicides when planting soybeans
a. After beans emerge, annual ryegrass escapes can be controlled with full rates of SelectMax, Poast Plus or
Fusilade DX.
b. Use fertilizer, surfactant, crop oil as label-directed. Less effective in cold temps.

Careful Management of Annual Ryegrass Burndown

The use of seed blends for annual ryegrass cover cropping may not be the best idea. Here’s why:

Each variety of annual ryegrass has certain characteristics for growth, including how quickly it comes out of dormancy in the spring. And there’s a potential problem with that: if you spray the annual ryegrass with glyphosate when the grass is still dormant, none of the herbicide will be absorbed by the dormant plants. Thus, while the application may kill the actively-growing annual ryegrass varieties, those varieties still lying dormant won’t be affected.

There are a couple ways to deal with this issue. The first is to plant only one variety, one that has been tested for the Midwest and has the capability to stand up to harsher winter weather. When applying glyphosate to a single variety, there won’t be any difference in the time the entire cover crop field comes out of dormancy.

If you’re facing this spring with a field of annual ryegrass blend, you must be more vigilant about the burndown. The best bet, if weather cooperates, is to give the entire cover crop an extra 5 – 7 days to come out of dormancy. It’s a bit tricky to tell what’s an actively growing plant, so ask your crop consultant if you have doubts. But, with an extra week before burndown, you will likely be spraying plants that have all come out of dormancy.

Sometimes, after spraying annual ryegrass, it appears that the job has been done…the grass looks brown and dead. But be watchful; sometimes the kill hasn’t been complete and new growth can occur. Scout your field in the week or so after the first glyphosate application and see if it’s completely killed. If not, a second application of herbicide will be needed.

For more information about the fine points of burndown, check out the handy one-page reference on the General Information page in this blog section, for today’s date. Otherwise, you can also check out the same information on the annual ryegrass cover crop website. (News releases 2013 – Annual Ryegrass Control)

COVER CROPS MAKE A COME BACK

At the recent Ag Connect Expo & Summit (ACES) in Kansas City a survey conducted by Case IH, found that 85 percent of the 1,109 producer respondents are considering new cropping practices and technologies for this year’s growing season.

Here’s an excerpt from the article:

Cover crops are the top farming practice that will be tried for the first time in 2013 with 24 percent of respondents planning to plant them. “We’re seeing resurgence in cover crop use for multiple reasons,” says Brian. “They can improve soil tilth, water infiltration, organic matter levels, and soil fertility, as well as reduce erosion and suppress weeds.

For more information about annual ryegrass cover crops, click here:

No-Till Farmer Magazine Broadcasts Tips on Cover Crops

No-Till Magazine’s article on cover crops is more cautionary than informative: it is helpful in advising Midwest corn and soybean growers to know where your cover crop seed comes from and make sure that what’s on the label is actually in the bag. You want something growing in your field that is genetically well-matched for the climate and soil.

Among the most popular cover crops featured: annual ryegrass, radish and clover. The article cites the importance of having a state where seed is grown to have some research and industry education behind the production and distribution of seed. The author mentions the Oregon Ryegrass Commission, for example, which has sponsored annual ryegrass research and farmer education in the Midwest for 15 years.

Success in developing a good cover crop program takes a trusted relationship…with your seed dealer, with your local crop advisors. Click here to see the whole article.

Ryegrass, Clover, Radish are Top Picks for Post 2012 Drought Cover Crops

Annual ryegrass, crimson clover and radish are among the most popular cover crops this year in the Midwest, as farmers rushed to plant something to absorb some of the available nitrogen still in the soil. The drought stifled the corn harvest, and thus much of the nitrogen put out there for corn was subject to be washed into nearby streams and lakes. Planting a cover crop like annual ryegrass has a “two-fer” effect: preventing erosion and simultaneously keeping the nitrogen in place for aiding the next field crop in 2013.

Here’s the article link in the Tribune Star (Terre Haute, IN) in which farmers (both experienced and newcomers to cover cropping) and Purdue agronomist Eileen Kladivko discuss the value of cover crops.