Broadcasting Rye Seed with a Fertilizer Spreader

super99 · Oct 2, 2015

I need to seed rye with a fertilizer spreader and need to know how to guage how heavy I'm seeding. I combined my seed rye too wet and tried different ways to get it dry unsuccessfully until I put it in the drying bin and used heat on it. I did a germination test and only about 20% grew, So I have 140 or 150 bushels of rye to spread over 30 acres. If I can get close to 5 bu/acre, that should give me 1 bushel of good seed/acre. Are there any charts anywhere that show seeds in a given area to figure out where to set the spreader? I haven't made all of the mistakes yet, but I'm working on it. Chris

mazemeister · Oct 2, 2015

i just googled how many rye seeds per bushel and come up with 18000 per pound, 56 pounds/ bushel, 43560 sq ft/ acre, means 1 bu/a is 23 seeds/ sq ft.

but... my grain drill (jd 8200) will put down a little over 4 bu/ acre set wide open. if a heavier rate is desired, just drill it twice. we pull the drill behind the disk, so just make sure to set the disk real shallow and it works fine.

Eldon (WA) · Oct 2, 2015

(quoted from post at 10:51:33 10/02/15) I need to seed rye with a fertilizer spreader and need to know how to guage how heavy I'm seeding. I combined my seed rye too wet and tried different ways to get it dry unsuccessfully until I put it in the drying bin and used heat on it. I did a germination test and only about 20% grew, So I have 140 or 150 bushels of rye to spread over 30 acres. If I can get close to 5 bu/acre, that should give me 1 bushel of good seed/acre. Are there any charts anywhere that show seeds in a given area to figure out where to set the spreader? I haven't made all of the mistakes yet, but I'm working on it. Chris

There are too many variables with a spin spreader. I just set it to a low setting and then go over the field 2 or 3 times in different patterns until the seed is gone.

Andy Martin · Oct 2, 2015

56#/bu is about 45#/cu ft. So if you set your spreader for 250#/a of 45# material you should get it spread in one pass.

farmerwithmutt · Oct 2, 2015

Rough way I do it is a 40 is a 1/4 mile long and 33 1/3 wide is an acre if you're lucky an got a straight shot on a 40 just step of 33 feet and see how much you spread in that area. I use it to calibrate manure spreaders and grain drills

Andy Martin · Oct 2, 2015

An acre is actually exactly 1/4 mile by 33 ft. Or an acre is 1/2 mile long and 16-1/2 ft wide, one rod wide. A rod is a face acre on a 1/4 section field. Old equipment at 8' 3" wide will cover an acre down and back on a half mile run or a half acre on a 1/4 mile run. That's why they were built for 8' 3". Very accurate way to calibrate equipment.

Jim in NC · Oct 2, 2015

I sowed rye with a spin spreader for many years for a cover crop after my tobacco was harvested. I used two bushels per acre and usually spread the field twice inopposite directions.

JD Seller · Oct 2, 2015

Chris Andy Martin has the easy way. Rye does weight about 45 LBS per cubic foot. So use the rate chart to set your LBS per acre you want. Which for 5 bushel would 5 x 56=280. So that would be for full rate. I would set it for half rate and split your wheel tracks while double spreading the rye. This way you get more even coverage. So use 45 lbs. per cubic foot and 140 LBS per acre.

Broadcasting Rye Seed with a Fertilizer Spreader

super99

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mazemeister

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Eldon (WA)

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Andy Martin

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farmerwithmutt

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Andy Martin

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Jim in NC

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JD Seller

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