growing
Rye is a versatile crop. It is harvested
for hay, grain, and silage,
and is used for pasture or as a
cover, green-manure, or companion
crop.
Rye can produce crops in many
areas where soil and climate are unfavorable
for higher income crops.
It may be planted later in the fall
than other small grains because it
has a shorter germination period
under low temperatures; it grows
quickly; and it is cold hardy.
The greatest concentration of rye
acreage in the United States is in
the Plains States, where it is grown
primarily as a grain crop. In the
East South Central and South Atlantic
States it is grown for pasture
or for a cover or green-manure crop
more generally than it is for grain.
ADAPTATION
Rye can be grownl in every State,
but acreage is limited in most areas

By L. TW. Briggle, Agronomist,
Crops Research Division, Agricultural
Research Service.
because  other  crops  are  more
profitable.
Compared    with  other cereals
adapted to the same area, winter rye
generally is more winter hardy and
is earlier in maturity.
Winter rye in its flowering stage
may be damaged by frosts. Its
early flowering may make it impractical
as a grain crop in some of
the western mountain valleys or in
other places where late    spring
frosts are likely to occur.
The soil requirements of rye are
not as exacting as those of other
small grains. It is more productive
on infertile, sandy, or acid soils
than are wheat, oats, or barley.
Rye often is the only small grain
that can be grown successfully on
sandy soils.
Rye produces better on light
loams and sandy soils than on
heavy clay soils. It is more tolerant
of dry soils than of wet, poorly
drained soils.