Fall Crop FAQ

Farmers newer to fall crops have questions!

• Winter Wheat vs Rye?
  • Rye competes with weeds better in the spring because it grows faster and has the allopathic affect
  • Rye price is often lower (feed, distilling, milling, malting) but the higher yields generally make its net returns better or equal
  • Winter Wheat can be seeded later
  • Rye doesn't suffer from green bridge (wheat / winter wheat can transmit the wheat streak mosaic virus
• Hybrid Rye vs Traditional: 
  • Hybrids will yield about 20-40% more vs Traditional Rye for grain and about 10-20% more for forage
  • The grain market used to price traditional slightly higher vs hybrids for the cover crop market but that should go away now that the F2 market is starting (to authorized dealers)
• When to seed fall crops?
  • Central or North prairies
    • Aug 20 - Sept 15 for Hybrid Rye
    • Aug 20 - Sept 20 for Winter Wheat & Fall Triticale
  • South prairies 
    • Aug 25 - Sept 20 for Hybrid Rye
    • Aug 25 - Sept 30 for Winter Wheat & Fall Triticale
• Does Rye become a weed?
  • The year following Rye,  grow a non-cereal and make sure the volunteers are controlled well and it will be similar to a Winter Wheat.
• Allelopathic effect from the volunteer rye?
  • if you have a cover crop or a volunteer crop it can impact your next crop but only if its green so kill your cover crop 7-10 days before seeding a canola crop for example. This can be a benefit when suppressing weeds.
• What stubble to seed fall crops on?
  • Pulses and oilseeds are easiest to follow, but if you do follow a cereal, make sure the cereal volunteers will not compete in the fall with the fall crop as you can't spray them out in the fall once the fall crop is up. 
• Seeding rates
  • Winter Wheat
    • Dryland in Southern AB we suggest 30 plants per sq foot,
    • Irrigation or more central or North areas = 40 plants per sq foot.
  • Hybrid Fall Rye
    • 1 unit per ac, when seeding early you can use 0.9 and when seeding later 1.2 units per ac may be recommended. 
      • 1 unit is 1 million live seeds, unit size can range between 65 lbs - 85 lbs per unit.
• Should I put fertilizer on in the fall?
  • Winter Wheat can have N applied in fall, or spring, or use a blend of ESN
  • Rye - we like to put all of it on in the fall as rye uses N much earlier in the spring. ESN does not become available fast enough for rye. 
• How much fertilizer for fall crops?
  • Rye we suggest similar rates to spring wheats, its yields can be higher but it is a more efficient user of fertilizer and water.
  • Winter Wheat's yield target is higher vs spring wheat so you may want to increase rates or top dress
• Need more info? Watch or listen to our Hybrid Fall Rye School: https://youtu.be/UoZVkQRDcLQ?si=ReUkupU2kbALnJNO