The introduction of hybrid fall rye has been a gamechanger for the previously overlooked crop, taking it from the least profitable to the most profitable cereal crop on the Prairies.
Hybrid fall rye can be used for food, feed and fuel and there are numerous market opportunities if we can grow enough to meet demand. Hybrid rye was introduced to Canadian farmers five years ago. It was brought to Western Canada on a trial basis but was immediately successful, with a consistent 30-35 per cent yield increase over conventional rye, and a 20-30 per cent advantage over other cereals such as winter wheat and feed wheat.
“Hybrid rye will change the way Canadian growers look at rye as a potential for their farm,” says Herman Wehrle, director of market development with FP Genetics, which distributes hybrid rye varieties in Canada. “It is extremely high-yielding, is very easy to grow and requires less use of crop protection. Also, hybrid fall rye takes advantage of a different seeding and harvesting period which can have improved workload and risk management implications. It better utilizes early-season moisture and cooler weather in the early growth stages.”
FEED MARKET PROSPECTS
Today about 250,000 acres in western Canada are seeded each year to fall rye. Most rye goes into the food market, primarily for distilling or milling. Hybrid rye has more consistent seed size and higher test weights than conventional rye. Combine this with improved falling numbers and the crop is much more sought after by the food markets.
“Most of Canada’s hybrid rye is exported to the U.S. who still rely heavily on hybrid rye from Europe to meet their food demand,” says Wehrle. “So there is definitely the opportunity to sell more to the USA if we have more supply in the future.”
However Wehrle says the long-term market potential for growth is the feed market. Due to its high yields, good energy content and resulting low cost of production per tonne it is an alternative to corn for the feed industry. To date, much of the research work on feed has been done with hogs, and results are showing no significant changes to feed intake, feed efficiency, average daily gain or meat quality when hybrid rye is used in a ration with other cereals or corn.
Wehrle says further Canadian and international research is now being conducted to look at health and wellness aspects of rye with hogs due to its unique carbohydrate and fibre complex.
“We know, for hogs that the energy value is right between wheat and barley, which makes it a good option. We now want to take this research and apply it to feedlots and see the results in beef feeding performance and meat quality. Again, the main advantage for the feed market is the higher yields which result in a price that can lower feed costs and improve profit for the cattle producer.”
Outside of the food and feed markets, hybrid rye is also going into the fuel ethanol market. It has a high starch content similar to wheat, making it a good ethanol feedstock.
BRINGING HYBRID RYE TO CANADA
Hybrid rye was developed in Germany in 1986. Due to its long growing season and ability to use available nutrients and water, KWS Cereals — the breeder of hybrid rye — determined the crop would be a good fit for Canadian growers and partnered with FP Genetics to bring the product to Canada. It found that the varieties that worked in Europe performed equally as well in Canada.
“In Europe, growers liked growing hybrid rye as it was a low-input, high-yield crop that was easy to market,” says Claus Nymand, Product Manager for hybrid rye with KWS Cereals. “It was initially developed for the food market as there was stable demand for distillers and for rye bread. But today two-thirds of the hybrid rye grown in Europe goes to the feed industry.”
Nymand says that European growers found that the same healthy profile of high-fibre rye that appealed to humans was also an advantage for animal consumption. As demand for rye for feed grew, they looked to bring their product to North American growers and expand their markets overseas.
“Right now all of our varieties work well in the Canadian growing regions as far north as, say, Edmonton,” says Nymand. “But we want to continue to expand into northern regions so we are continuing to develop new varieties with even greater winter hardiness. Hybrid rye has been a very competitive crop for the feed industry in Europe and we are interested in demonstrating the same for Canadian growers so they will add it into their crop rotation
AGRONOMICS OF GROWING HYBRID RYE
Reduced management time is one of the advantages of hybrid rye. Rye is fall seeded and so it is harvested earlier than spring crops. This makes good use of existing equipment and human resources during normal down
time.
“The best thing you can do is start off with a clean field,” says Wehrle. “Then if you seed it into a clean canola stubble at the end of August or early September, you have plenty of time for good crown root development. This sets you up for good winter survival and earlyspring regrowth. Ideally the plant should have two to three leaves with two plus tillers before winter. Farmers can either put most or all of their fertilizer down in the fall at seeding when using a protected nitrogen source or apply some additional nitrogen in spring as soon as they can get on the land. Then in many cases they can just leave it alone until harvest.”
Due to its extensive root system, hybrid rye is hardier than winter wheat, so it is less susceptible to winterkill. Hybrid fall rye is also somewhat resistant to leaf and stem rusts and fusarium head blight. This reduces the need for fungicides.
The deep and complex root system also allows it to take advantage of available winter and early-spring moisture and nutrients, meaning it can handle some drought and it requires 20 per cent less water and 20 per cent less nitrogen to produce the same yield as winter wheat.
“Hybrid rye is a very stress-tolerant crop that really looks after itself,” says Wehrle. “It’s also an allelopathic plant, which means it helps control other weeds that grow around it. Because of that it is highly competitive and growers rarely have to spray for spring weeds. Occasionally some broadleaf weeds might creep in early in the season, but generally growers are able to manage that in the fall.”
“Hybrid fall rye really is different from the conventional open-pollinated varieties in its muchimproved yields,” says Wehrle. “This does require farmers to think differently about fertilization to optimize genetics. To reach these targets of 100 bushels and more, farmers now need to fertilize it like their most productive crops. That means good levels of all the macros including N,P,K and S.”
FIVE VARIETIES
FP Genetics has introduced five different KWS hybrid rye hybrids in the five years since bringing the crop to Canada. The first, KWS Brasetto, was the initial hybrid that proved the crop worked in Canadian growing conditions. The second, KWS Bono, had a five per cent yield increase over Brasetto. KWS Gatano, introduced last fall, will have 50 per cent improved ergot resistance. KWS Trebiano, being introduced this fall, will have a further 40-50 per cent ergot resistance over KWS Gatano.
Ergot is the most important disease concern in hybrid rye and ergot is toxic to animals and humans when over 0.1PPM. KWS says these new hybrids are better due to a unique pollen technology it has developed to markedly increase the plant pollen levels during flowering making it more difficult for ergot spores to attach to the flowers, reducing the number of ergot bodies formed.
FORAGE VARIETIES
This fall FP Genetics is also launching its first new forage hybrid, KWS Progas. This product was specifically developed for forage production with high digestibility. Early results are showing about a 15 per cent improvement in biomass over other hybrids, which will provide even more value to the silage market.
“One of the key advantages with a hybrid fall rye forage such as KWS Progas is double cropping,” says Wehrle. “Seeding KWS Progas in fall and harvesting for forage in June will allow growers to replant to another annual forage such as barley or oats to get a second crop off in the same year. This rotation will result in considerable improvement in efficiency and production of silage for beef and dairy producers requiring silage in their feed ration.”
MARKETING AND RISK MANAGEMENT OPTIONS
Growers interested in trying hybrid rye but who want to mitigate marketing risk do have some options. FP Genetics works closely with grain partners such as Scoular Grain, G3, Ceres and Grains Connect to supply their food customers. The Province of Manitoba has now added a separate category for hybrid rye to its list of crop-insurable varieties, while Alberta and Saskatchewan are looking at the possibility of adding it in the future.
“Growers used to seed conventional rye on their least productive land and now are growing hybrid rye on their most productive land and managing it like other productive crops,” says Wehrle. “Hybrid fall rye really is a game-changer when it comes to profitability. As we grow marketing opportunities in food, feed and fuel we hope to increase demand and opportunities for farmers to grow this exciting new crop. It will be interesting to see where this crop goes.”
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This feature was produced on behalf of FP Genetics. The Western Producer’s editorial department had no involvement in the creation of this content. |
