Helpful tips for sowing cereal grains

Cereal grains are the most important food plants in the world. Whether eaten directly, processed into bread, or used as animal feed, they cover nearly all basic nutritional needs. This guide will help you start sowing your own cereal grains so that you can reap a bountiful harvest.

• Many major cereal grains, including wheat, oats, barley, and rye, can be successfully grown in Canada. You can also grow triticale, an important grain that can be used for flour, breakfast cereal, or livestock feed.
• Most grains do best on well-tilled soil of average fertility. Too much nitrogen will make them grow overly lush and topple over. Maize is the exception and requires highly fertile soil.
• Before planting, the soil should be plowed and disked or rototilled. Add lime and fertilizer as needed.
• You can broadcast (fling out) your seeds by hand or with a hand-cranked seeder. To ensure even coverage, go up and down the plot lengthwise as you sow, and then go over it again at right angles to your first direction. Till or rake the soil to work the seeds in.
• If the plot is large, sow the grain with a drill (a mechanical device that spaces out the seeds in straight rows at precise depths).
• Except for field corn and sorghum, grains need virtually no care until harvest time. Corn and sorghum should be planted in widely spaced rows so that they can be cultivated while small.
• To prevent the depletion of soil nutrients and the buildup of pests and pathogens, grain crops should be raised as part of a rotation system with other crops. Your local agricultural authority can advise you on a rotation plan for your area. A typical plan might be maize the first year, followed by crops of alfalfa, wheat, vegetables, soybeans, and pasture grasses in succeeding years.

Delicious, nutritious, and easy to grow, cereal grains are an excellent candidate if you're wondering what to plant. Follow our easy sowing advice and you'll soon be enjoying one of the most versatile crops around.