Companion crops for rye grain

J

jaytee

New member
Getting ready to plant some rye grain and was wondering what you folks would suggest for a good combo plot? These plots will be in beans the following spring.
 
Is this a rowcrop operation or a food plot? Ordinarily I would us a legume interseeded with rye like clover, alfalfa, or even lespedeza,( before anybody goes balistic, I'm talking Marion a Missouri adapted grazing annual lespedeza, not bush, or serecia), but since your rotating to soybeans next year.... is the goal wildlife enhancement, background grazing, cover crop, or cash crop? Maybe a combination of the above.
 
I think the rye with a legume would be good for deer, as for quail, I would use something else, and might want to consider something other than soybeans next year, as the is some evidence that beans are undigestable to some degree by quail, although they readily eat them.
 
jaytee said:
Quail/wildlife only.
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IMO, unless I'm very wrong regarding the length of your growing season down south in MO, rye isn't going to do much for quail if you're going to rip it up in the spring for beans. In fact I can't think of anything that would work this late into the season. Perhaps a fast millet or buckwheat if you have at least 60-75 days frost free yet with sufficient moisture.
oldandnew said:
... as the is some evidence that beans are undigestable to some degree by quail, although they readily eat them.
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x2. I'm not sure if it's specifically the GMO varieties, but I think so. That said, I wouldn't couldn't on RR soybeans providing much, if any value for birds.
 
Don't know why you're planting rye for quail unless it's just a cover crop for next year. The soybeans also don't really have a place for quail. You might get by this fall planting Japanese or Proso millet. It takes 45-75 days to mature. If the rye is aimed at deer, use Austrian Winter peas at 30 lbs/acre with the rye. Sell it as a baled forage next spring and follow up with a fall maturing crop -milo, millet, etc.
 
The rye is aimed at deer,as is the beans. I've got other plots or areas that I plan on planting with quail friendly foods. Just curious, how tall will the rye be, given we get average moisture during the winter, come spring bean planting time.
 
Probably 1-2 feet, maybe a bit more. Why do you insist on beans if they can be disasterous for the quail and other options exist??? Cowpeas can fulfill the same niche as the beans without the negatives. So could Korean Lespedeza and several other legume crops.
 
To be honest Troy I didn't know of the problem with beans untill now. I will consider other options, maybe cowpeas will do the trick. Are all beans bad for quail or are there certain varieties that will work?
 
Jaytee, soybeans all have a protein that prevents Quail from digesting food. Fed a diet that is solely soybeans and they die. Fed one with high levels of soybeans and they don't thrive and have production problems. Further, soybeans frequently harbor the T2 toxin, which can outright kill quail when ingested. I've been using cowpeas for nearly 20 years and the deer will grup them until only a 1/2 pencil sized stem remains. The plot will be so covered in tracks that you can't throw your hat down without covering 5 tracks here. Follow that with wheat mixed with the Austrian Winter Peas and you have most of the year covered by a forage very attractive to deer. I don't know how rye is viewed by neighbors in Missouri, but in the wheat belt it is a problem invader in wheat stands and the neighbors might lynch someone that planted it and allowed it to seed the following year. Triticale might be a better choice if wheat isn't a possibility.
 
Jaytee, hope I didn't come across too brusk! Don't mean to. I was sure we'd had that soybean discussion since you came on board.

As another option, have you ever considered planting Canola/Rape as a crop for your deer component? I believe it only takes about 6 pounds of seed per acre. It will have to be either broadcast or planted with a grass drill to prevent planting too deeply. Google Canola and you'll get a lot of info on it. I've sure not had any personal first-hand experience with it. My biologist has and seems to like it. Other options are radishes and turnips. These could be planted with your rye, wheat, or triticale. A side benefit is you could have some of these in a salad at home.
 
Troy, I decided to go with the rye, some winter peas and some forage turnips. Might throw in some oats that I've got laying around as well. As for the beans next year, I'll probably sub some cowpeas instead. Do you have any info on the Quail Haven Reseeding/vining Soybeans? They're evidentally a strain or hybrid of some different types of older forage beans that have been around for some time. Steve Payne from Senatobia Mississippi has been working with Miss. State University in their development. I've planted them a few years ago and they were awesome as far as cover goes. This was before I knew about the problem with beans but I'm not sure if this particular strain of bean is as bad as regular beans.
 
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I've not heard of them Jaytee. The mixture of your higher moisture and any variety of soybeans would probably increase the chance of having the T-2 toxin show up in your beans. With the limited population of quail you have to work with, I'd not increase the chance of a catastrophic die-off.
 
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