- To estimate the amount of crop residue, we can use the overall ratio of the main crop to the side crop.
- Which grain produces the greatest amount of crop residue?
Rapeseed with huge amounts of harvest residues
There is no need to convince anyone that straw is a valuable source of nutrients from the soil. After all, awareness of the fertilizing value of straw, but also of its properties influencing the level of humus, is constantly increasing. Today, however, this is not about that, but we will check what amount of straw we actually have after harvesting individual crops. And these quantities are really large.
In the case of rapeseed, after harvesting we may have up to 10 tons of harvest residues in the field. However, it must be admitted that this amount will only be guaranteed by plantations with high yield potential. Estimates assume that we usually have a slightly smaller amount of leftovers at our disposal, and this amount oscillates between 5 and 9 tons. These lower values, of course, refer to weaker positions. However, if we harvest high yields – and in such a scenario we are dealing with large plants with thick stems and a large amount of side branches – we can be sure that the amounts of crop residues are closer to these higher estimated values. To estimate the straw yield, it is worth using the seed yield:straw yield converter 1:2. It is not always reliable, but it gives some insight into the amount of straw that may have remained in the field (or, more precisely, all harvest residues). Then, with a seed yield of 4 t/ha, we can expect 8 t of harvest residues.
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Cereals not as rich as rapeseed, but there are plenty of leftovers
A slightly different conversion rate applies to cereals, and this one is also different within them. In the case of wheat, the correlation between grain and straw yield is 1:1.1. With a yield of about 5 t/ha, we obtain about 5.5 tons of side crop on each hectare. In the case of barley – especially spring barley – the straw yield is very similar to the grain yield. We are talking about a ratio of 1:1, possibly 1:1.05. A much better balance applies to oats and rye – here the ratios range from 1:1.4 to 1:1.6. However, as in the case – this is not a precise conversion rate, but only an indicative one. There are situations when the grain yield is low and the straw yield is high. It also happens that, for example, short wheat varieties are able to produce high yields, but the side yield is necessarily lower due to the height of the plants. On average, it is often approximated that we obtain about 4.5 – 5 tons of straw per hectare of winter cereals.
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Three pillars of implementing regenerative agriculture. Report from BIO_REACTION
It is worth using corn leftovers conscientiously – they are large amounts
The corn harvest is still a long way away, but let's pay attention to the huge amounts of post-harvest residues involved in this crop. This is up to 15 tons of residues per hectare in the case of grain maize. Of course, smaller amounts will apply to silage corn (about 5 tons per hectare). As in the case of cereals, these amounts are general, because in fact everything depends on, among others, on the course of vegetation and how much biomass the plants develop. However, in the case of corn for grain, the ratio of grain yield to side yield is 1:1.2.
It is now worth thinking about how to properly manage such amounts of harvest residues. Not only are they a valuable source of nutrients, but they also enrich the organic matter of the soil and contribute to increasing the share of humus. But such results are only possible with proper management. We have already mentioned this on farmer.pl, and we will come back to this topic later. However, it is worth mentioning that we have at our disposal not only nitrogen and lime, which are great for tasks such as accelerating the mineralization of harvest residues, but also a number of preparations dedicated strictly to the mineralization of straw. And the game is worth the candle, because we are talking about large amounts of residues that will enrich the soil.
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Harvest 2024. It's the beginning, but rapeseed and barley yields are not high
