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Bringing rye back to Kentucky

Work continues to re-establish rye as a viable crop in Kentucky.

South Central Kentucky farmer John Halcomb of Walnut Grove Farms says it’s going to take time. “As we started to try to figure out how to bring it back, we said, this is a 40-year project,” he says. “This is not something that’s going to happen overnight. It’s going to take wheat breeders, researchers, it’s going to take farmers, it’s going to take end users, everybody collaborating and working together to figure this out.”

He tells Brownfield the multi-year project is bringing together partners throughout the supply chain. “We’re trying different varieties and looking at flavor and looking at yields and the whole picture,” he says.

Halcomb says the ultimate goal is to increase production of high-quality cereal rye grain for baking, brewing, and distilling. “Because that is really the rhyme market in Kentucky is going into distilleries,” he says. 

Halcomb says a similar effort began nearly 50 years ago for winter wheat.“There was a group that started really focusing on intensive wheat management in the state,” he says. “And so, for 50 years that’s been a real focus. Wheat yields have doubled in that time. We attracted a large wheat miller into the state. I mean it’s been phenomenal for the state, for farmers. Rye hasn’t had that focus.”

The Ohio Valley Grain Exchange says the initiative to Bring Rye Back to Kentucky launched in 2017. 

OVGE says the data from the decade’s worth of research will be utilized to compile a comprehensive rye management guide from the University of Kentucky, which has an expected publication date in 2028. 

Brownfield spoke with Halcomb during the recent Ohio Valey Grain Exchange Southeastern Grain Gathering.

AUDIO: John Halcomb, Kentucky rye grower