Cereal Rye: Another Fix for Global Climate Change?

  ALBERT LEA, MN - 02/21/2018 (PRESS RELEASE JET)

Albert Lea Seed pledged $50,000 to winter cereal rye research being led by the University of Minnesota’s Northwest Research and Outreach Center (NWROC).

Albert Lea Seed’s donation will support NWROC’s research and outreach program for the sustainable and profitable production of rye. The University’s research will help characterize specific cereal rye varieties in field testing so that farmers can understand which varieties and planting strategies will work for their on-farm conditions.

Winter cereal rye already is the most planted cover crop in the Upper Midwest because of its low cost, ease of establishment, winter survivability, and biomass production. The University of Minnesota’s research will help farmers make variety decisions about this and other potential uses for forage, animal feed, distilling, and milling. 

All farmers can benefit from integrating small grains as rotational and cover crops, and cereal rye is well suited to help corn and soybean farmers prevent erosion and nutrient loss which is a direct benefit to farmers as well as down-stream water quality. Rye is considered a nutrient ‘catch crop’ for absorbing unused soil nitrogen with its quick-growing root system that can hold as much as 100 pounds of nitrogen per acre over winter.

While winter cereal rye’s utility as a cover crop is established, new (and re-discovered old) uses are being pursued by farmers. 

“Farmers using rye in roller-crimper systems need early-heading rye, farmers harvesting rye for forage need excellent biomass production and quality, and farmers interested in feeding rye to swine and other animals need maximum grain yield combined with low incidence of ergot,” said Mac Ehrhardt, President and co-owner of Albert Lea Seed. “These trials are designed to determine which rye varieties are best suited for each end-use.”

In the European Union, grain from winter cereal rye is incorporated into animal feed, and food companies in the U.S. are investigating re-integrating it into animal rations domestically to help them achieve sustainability goals. Because winter rye is seeded in the fall and grows at a time of year when corn and soybeans don’t, it helps reduce greenhouse gas emissions, reduce erosion, reduce nutrient leaching, improve water quality, reduce synthetic fertilizer, reduce pesticides, and increase biodiversity and habitat.

“If 20% of every bacon cheeseburger in the U.S. came from animals that were fed cereal rye as part of a ration, farmers across the Upper Midwest would have a market for rye, and therefore an economically viable third crop to work into their rotations,” said Ehrhardt. “This would be a win for food companies, who would be well on the way to achieving their supply-chain sustainability objectives, but an even bigger win for the land, for farmers, and for rural communities.”

Company Info

Albert Lea Seed is an independent, family-owned seed retailer with over 90 years of experience in the seed business. They offer seed for both organic and conventional, non-GMO agricultural producers.

Contact Info

Mac Ehrhardt, President
mac@alseed.com
1414 West Main Street
Albert Lea, MN 56007
(800) 352-5247

www.alseed.com