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Harvesting Fast Spring Rye soon
The harvest of the Fast Spring Rye is fast approaching. Now follow the development of the crop and Buienradar closely to determine the ideal harvest moment for you!
Fast Spring Rye is a product from the hybrid rye breeding of KWS and has been specially developed as a fodder crop between 2 maize crops. Fast Spring Rye shows more tillering and faster length growth in spring compared to traditional cut or leaf rye. Fast Spring Rye combines the properties of a catch crop with those of a protein producer. With Snel Lente Rye, the environmental impact is lower and a livestock farm is less dependent on external protein sources for its necessary protein supply.
Choose the right harvest time
The right harvest time is in growth stage 37/39, the so-called flag leaf stage, where the last leaf unrolls. This is achieved with a crop length of approximately 70 centimetres. It is much better to mow under favorable drying conditions. The weather therefore determines the mowing moment, even more so than the ideal crop length.
When mowing, a cutting height of 8-10 centimeters is desired. By maintaining this cutting height, contamination with soil particles and thus a reduction in quality is prevented. When mowing, the dry matter percentage is around 20%. Opt for mowing for optimal drying by laying the crop best, bruised and wide. A drying time of a maximum of 48 hours is desired to achieve the ideal ds percentage of the harvested product of 30-35%. The most common harvesting methods are chopping or baling finely sliced into bales and then wrapping. With a later harvest towards the beginning of May, the dry matter yield increases further due to an increase in crop mass, but the protein percentage decreases due to dilution. Waiting so long is also not desirable with a view to preparing for sowing and sowing the maize.
For a timely start of the maize growing season, it is desirable to carry out stubble cultivation, fertilization, plowing and seedbed preparation for sowing maize as soon as possible after the harvest of the Fast Spring Rye. The use of glyphosate is not necessary before or after this tillage. When the maize is plowed before sowing, regrowth and thus competition for moisture and nutrients with the subsequent cultivation of maize is not an issue.
Due to the timely harvest of the Fast Spring Rye in April, sufficient moisture remains in the soil for a smooth start of the next maize cultivation. In addition, less moisture and nutrients are needed for digestion of the crop residues left behind. There is therefore normally no question of a seedbed that is too dry for the subsequent cultivation of maize.
Do you have any further questions about Rapid Spring Rye or about the harvest? Please contact your regional KWS advisor† Wishing you lots of success and fun with the harvest of Fast Spring Rye!
