A renewed focus on hybrid rye as an energy crop for anaerobic digestion could lift the UK planted area well beyond 50,000ha, say industry experts.
“Hybrid rye is super flexible in the rotation and an excellent choice for growers,” says Agrovista arable seed product manager and agronomist Ted Williams (below left). “It can be drilled early or late on any soil type – helping to spread the harvest.”
Other benefits of hybrid rye include low seed rates, rapid spring growth, exceptional water efficiency and an aggressive root system that can scavenge for moisture and nutrients.
These attributes equate directly into economic benefits for growers seeking to improve profit margins by lowering input costs, explains Mr Williams.
It also offers good nitrogen use efficiency (NUE), requiring up to half the fertiliser of a second wheat and has far less susceptibility to take-all, making it an attractive option as a second cereal.
Crop management
“On inputs it ticks all the key sustainability boxes and is relatively straightforward to manage compared to other cereal crops. In challenging climatic conditions, such as recent hot, dry summers, it adapts well and generally copes much better than either wheat or barley.
“But it’s not completely bullet proof, and with low seed rates and a wide autumn drilling window it can be susceptible to slug activity, so growers do need to be cautious, particularly with late drilling and in wetter autumns.”
That point aside, the financial return on a 10-12t/ha hybrid winter rye crop make it a compelling argument for growers to include it in their rotations – especially with sluggish winter wheat prices.
When it comes to anaerobic digestion, wholecrop freshweight yields up to 50t/ha on good land are regularly achieved by established varieties such as SU Performer and SU Baresi – both bred by German breeder Saaten Union and available via Elsoms Seeds.
Wynnstay combinable crop seed specialist Danny Richardson (left)agrees that the cropped area could double in size within half a decade. He’s already seen a 10-15% increase in farmer customers growing hybrid rye in the last two years.
But Mr Richardson says new markets will be key to unlocking more growing area in the short-medium term.
“We see future interest in hybrid rye coming from mixed farms, specifically those that grow feed crops for their own livestock. A switch to rye-based diets within the pig sector is already happening.”
Trial results have shown little difference in liveweight gains between rye and wheat-based diets, with improved gut health and reduced levels of aggression favouring rye over wheat.
Another potential new market could be bio-ethanol production. Although wheat is still the primary source for this, rye could do the job equally well – if not better, given rye’s requirement for fewer inputs.
Crop varieties
Mr Richardson says his customers have been particularly interested in SU Performer and SU Arvid – with many rye growers now splitting their area between these established varieties and newer ones coming onto the descriptive lists.
“With wider market opportunities for hybrid rye, combined with possible future yield penalties for maize crops, I can certainly see the area of hybrid rye rising above 100,000ha in a relatively short time frame.”
Saaten Union UK general manager Stephen Goward (below) says rapidly rising input costs, an emphasis on sustainable farming practices and recent extreme weather events are among the reasons for more UK growers to include hybrid rye in their rotations.
“We see tremendous opportunities for market growth in winter hybrid rye. Grain yields of 10-13t/ha are readily achievable with a crop that is relatively easy to manage and can be grown on all soil types.
“Many growers have found that it out-performs both wheat and barley as a second or third cereal and with a wide drilling window from September to early November it is incredibly flexible within the rotation.”
Looking ahead
Of 13 varieties currently on the UK descriptive list for hyrbird rye, six are bred by Saaten Union. They include dual purpose variety SU Baresi, which can be grown for biomass or grain, achieving a yield of 103%.
The breeder aims to introduce one or two new varieties each year – including wholecrop varieties for anaerobic digestion, grain for feed, flour or distilling.
“Of the SU varieties on the DL, SU Baresi sits very well at a yield of 103%. It’s dual purpose – grain or biomass, relatively early to mature and stiff strawed so should appeal to growers across the UK.
New to the UK for 2024 is SU Karlsson. An out-and-out biogas variety, it has outperformed other SU and competitor varieties on gas yields by 4.5% in our trials – with a robust disease package which includes a score of 7 for brown rust.
For growers looking for an agronomic insurance policy, Mr Goward says all SU varieties are blended with a 10% population rye pollinator.
SU Bebop flowers at the same time as the main crop and helps to reduce ergot infection, he adds.
