Hybrid rye shows promise in Pennsylvania and New York trials
Rye grain yields are often disappointing. This has discouraged use of the crop for grain and even seed production. Most of the current production is common, bin run rye or older varieties like Aroostook. We became aware of the hybrid rye development program at KWS two years ago and began to evaluate one of their hybrid rye lines, Barsetto, compared to Aroostook. We managed them similar to wheat in our trials, planting in October and harvesting at the same time as the wheat or a few days later. We planted the Aroostook at the normal 120 lb/acre rate and the Barsetto at either 1.0 million seeds per acre (65 lb/acre) in 2013 or the full rate of 120 lb/acre. The hybrid rye averaged about double the yield of the Aroostook, which averaged 39.8 bu/a.
Table 1. Yields of Aroostook rye and Barsetto hybrid rye in 2013 and 2014 in Pennsylvania.
Table 1. Yields of Aroostook rye and Barsetto hybrid rye in 2013 and 2014 in Pennsylvania. | |
|---|
Variety/seeding rate | Landisville 2013 | Rock Springs 2013 | Landisville
2014 | Rock Springs 2014 | Mean | |
|---|
bu/ac† | |
|---|
†Yields based on 56 lb/bushel
*Approximately 1.0 and 1.8 million seeds/acre | |
Aroostook @ 120 lb/a | 38.6 | 40.4 | 41.0 | 39.3 | 39.8 | |
Barsetto @ 120 lb/a* | 83.3 | 93.8 | 57.3 | 97.2 | 82.9 | |
Barsetto @ 65 lb/a* | - | - | 49.9 | 119.0 | | |
Aroostook lodged in the high N (100 lb/acre) management in these trials and may have done better at lower N rates. Barsetto was a few days later, about 3-4 inches shorter and lodged much less. The seeds of the hybrid are plumper and likely partly responsible for the increased yield.
In 2014 we tried the lower seeding rate of 1.0 million seeds per acre and still saw a yield advantage over Aroostook. The lower seeding rate also performed best at our Rock Springs site in 2014, with slightly less lodging. Our Landisville site in 2014 was planted later and in this environment a higher seeding rate gave a yield boost as you might expect. The hybrid is a premium priced seed marketed to be planted and not saved, so lower seeding rates is a key to manage seed cost.
Our colleagues at Cornell have also been testing Barsetto and other hybrid ryes. In 2013, averaged over four locations, Barsetto yielded 5172 lb/ac (92 bu/acre) compared to Aroostook at 1915 lb/ac (34 bu/acre), so their results have been similar to ours.
There are limited markets for rye grain, but having this an option could be useful in developing some new markets. One developing market has been the growing distilling industry, which has a need for high quality rye grain to make vodka or whiskey. A few growers in the state and in New York are gearing up to meet this demand. In Europe rye is widely used in hog and beef rations.
The KWS hybrid rye has been licensed to Seedway. My understanding is that seed availability is limited this year but will be more available next year.
Source : psu.edu