Author Topic: Rye Grain w/ pics (Read 2748 times)

Big E

Last yr I made a very small hidden plot that was top secret until I told my cousin after

then he told everyone after he was

now everyone

. Anyway I didn't get working on this plot until late in the yr. It was full of tall grass and brush. It honestly took me about 2 hrs to make this plot. I cut the brush with a big hand clippers and then sprayed it. I waited a couple weeks and went in and sprayed it again. It being so late in the yr (mid August) I knew I didn't have time to plant anything but Rye Grain. (I didn't want to put brassicas in this plot because of it's size) I picked Rye Grain because it's ability to keep growing at 34 degrees, able to grow almost anywhere, super cheap, and it's able to handle heavy grazing. It also is a natural weed control for this yr. I didn't do a soil test or lime or fertilize. My funds and time were running out and if it didn't work out I was only out a few dollars and elbow grease.

Here's what I started with. You can see the tall dead weeds. Deer came in to check out what was going on and to lick on the salt block I put out but other than that the only real deer trail was about 40yds away.

After only 2 weeks it was green and deer were using it. Now they had 3 main trails leading into it.

This plot is about 15 yds wide and 25 yds long...maybe.

Probably one of my favorite pics is this one.

The early snow we had this yr and the deer were right on top of the Rye.

Big E

Rye will release allelopathic chemicals this yr that will prohibit small seeds to germinate leaving me with a weed free food plot. I haven't checked this plot out this yr but I will tomorrow and I'll try to get some pics. I wish I would've planted clover with it last yr because since the clover would already be established it would grow this yr while the allelopathic chemicals are acting as my living round up. The rye would then seed out and die off leaving me with a weed free and thick carpet of clover.
Another thing Rye does is it is a Nitrogen scavenger. It will go wherever it needs to in order to get it. Unlike Wheat and Oats the Rye will only store the nitrogen and not use it so when you spray it or let it go to seed the next yr all that nitrogen will be on top of the soil ready for Brassicas, corn or whatever you want to plant. It does awsome stuff for your soil.
Rye Grain will grow almost anywhere. They say it will grow on the hood of your truck. Low or high PH, Sandy, Clay, Dry, Wet or whatever it will grow. My uncle has a plot in the middle of a pine forest near Backus, MN and the Rye does awesome in it.

Planting Ratio is 120-150lbs a acre. Seems like a lot but it's cheap and you're not growing this for a fall harvest you're growing it for deer. It comes up as a blade of grass so lay it on thick! You can't over seed Rye. Make sure you plant late in the yr (mid August or later) because you want it to be young and tender...say under a foot. Any taller and it gets to be a hard stem which the deer do not prefer. Rye will keep growing at 34 degrees and will germinate at soil temps of 38 degrees. It stays green all winter long! It doesn't die it just goes dormant. It's a biannual and it's the 1st thing to green up for your deer in the spring giving them food when there's really nothing else.

Big E

This is a 4 wheeler trail that we do not use anymore. It had been driven on for about 10 yrs and so it was pretty beaten down. Rye grew up in it and is breaking through that hard soil. I just sprayed this plot this weekend. It was green before anything else in the woods and provided the deer with food during a stressful time.

This plot is Rye grain from last fall that is coming up great now. I didn't kill yet because it is very sandy and there's not much if any organic material to hold water. So I'm building the soil by adding buckwheat. Buckwheat will add organic matter to the soil (green manure). In about 5 weeks I'll mow the rye and buckwheat down and plant buckwheat again. Then I will wait another 5 weeks plant Rye grain in it and mow the buckwheat. Just in time to hunt over it in the fall. I should have a small layer of top soil after this yr. I will repeat this process next yr.

Big E

Here's a food plot that we put on a guys property that let us hunt. He had 4 acres of land that we were interested in. He thought we were crazy to want to hunt it and also that we would want to put a food plot in as the soil was very sandy.....oh did I mention this was on the ridge of his gravel pit? So my uncle put in a small food plot of Rye Grain. He put a camera out there just to see what time the deer were coming in. We were expecting this to be a doe stand. It's also right next to a very busy highway. Well we didn't have much doe activity....

Here's my unlce and the buck we called Moose Paddles that he got off the plot. We had chances at the high one but it just never worked out.

Rye is a great draw for deer and if you only have a small chunk of land I'd consider putting in a small plot. You might be surprised as what you might draw in. This little plot I believe produced 3 deer last yr. Cheap and easy to plant.

Big E

Here's a picture of a Rye plot I hunted over and had a small buck come in. I took the picture with my phone. This plot as you can see is tucked into the woods and has a pretty good canopy of trees around it. Yet the Rye Grain is lush and green. I heard this buck stand up off of his bed to come in. It was bedded about 60yrds from the plot. We got right in by the bedding area so the deer visit it all day long. Not much will grow in the shade, poor soil and wet ground.

Here's a plot of rye that I planted last yr. It was starting to seed out already. It grows fast so remember to not plant it until August. It will come back the next yr offering a lot of organic matter for your soil after you spray it, let it mature or mow it. In this case I mowed it.

Big E

It just doesn't stop growing! You can see the sapplings popping up from the logging that took place last winter that I still need to cut down. This was planted last fall. I'm letting it grow because I need to build up this soil with organic matter. It's all rock and sand.
A few weeks ago....May 15th

This past weekend....June 5th

I threw some Buckwheat in with it a couple weeks ago to also add to the organic matter. Buckwheat's seed is big enough to not be affected by the allelopathic chemicals the rye releases.