2023 Rye Harvest

[combinepuller]

Thought I should share a few photos of my Massey Ferguson 751 in action on the Couteau de Prairie of Eastern South Dakota during this summer's rye harvest. The yield of 33 bu/acre was not great but given the extreme dry conditions of last fall that continued further into this spring, it is more than an acceptable yield. In my estimation the biggest hit to yield was the 0 rainfall from 1 August to late November that significantly inhibited normal emergence and tillering. A further late and short spring that went straight into summer did not help either. The last photo is a capture of precision tillage and the sowing of a cover crop mix in one pass right after finishing the rye harvest. Rains have been a little more generous as of recent so hoping for a good catch on the cover crop stand.






 

[tomstractorsandtoys]

Looks good. We harvested our best ever rye crop. One field made 93 bu per acre across the scales. Straw is
baled and fall oats along with tillage radishes were planted last Wednesday. Both oats and radishes are up
good this morning as we had 3 inches of rain. Tom
 

[combinepuller]

Tom,
Your yield is very impressive, especially given the current market on rye. I was able to contract at $8/bu last spring so I elected to keep and harvest the rye instead of terminating it as a cover crop and sowing soybeans which was the original plan. The continued dry conditions this spring were another determinant in keeping the rye as a cash grain crop. Topsoil conditions were not very favorable at the time for any soybeans sown later in May. After harvest, I sowed a 3 way cover crop mix of BMR sorghum sudan, radishes, and balansa clover from Millborn Seeds in Brookings. Further received about an inch of rain a week afterward so I am expecting really good stand establishment as well as we close fast on fall.