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ARS Home » Midwest Area » Madison, Wisconsin » U.S. Dairy Forage Research Center » Dairy Forage Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #424863
Research Project: Developing Sustainable Forage and Cover Crop Systems for Dairy Farms

Location: Dairy Forage Research

Title: Breeding cereal rye for cover crop and forage in the United States

Author
item Kucek, Lisa
item MOORE, VIRGINIA - Cornell University
item REBERG-HORTON, CHRIS - North Carolina State University
item LEON, RAMON - North Carolina State University
item EHLKE, NANCY - University Of Minnesota
item MIRKSY, STEVEN - US Department Of Agriculture (USDA)
item CONLEY, SHAWN - University Of Wisconsin
item SIMONS, KRISTIN - North Dakota State University
item WITT, TRAVIS - US Department Of Agriculture (USDA)
item HERB, DUSTIN - US Department Of Agriculture (USDA)
item CLARK, KERRY - University Of Missouri
item CARVALHO-AYRES, MARCELO - Embrapa
item WERLE, RODRIGO - University Of Wisconsin
item KOHMANN, MARTA - University Of Wisconsin

Submitted to: Meeting Proceedings
Publication Type: Proceedings
Publication Acceptance Date: 5/1/2025
Publication Date: 6/17/2025
Citation: Kucek, L.K., Moore, V., Reberg-Horton, C., Leon, R., Ehlke, N., Mirksy, S., Conley, S., Simons, K., Witt, T., Herb, D., Clark, K., Carvalho-Ayres, M., Werle, R., Kohmann, M. 2025. Breeding cereal rye for cover crop and forage in the United States. Meeting Proceedings. https://www.ryest2025.ee/userfiles/ryest2025/RYEST_abstract_book_2025_2.pdf.

Interpretive Summary: More farms are planting cover crops in the US. This presentation will outline a new nationwide breeding program for cereal rye to meet growing demand for the #1 cover crop in the US. I will review results from a survey to understand grower and seed company needs for rye breeding. I will then discuss our breeding and variety testing program to select rye for many different traits of interest across the country. The audience will also be introduced to new research on cereal rye's ability to suppress weeds.

Technical Abstract: Cereal rye acreage in the United States has rapidly grown over the last 15 years, now rivaling major crops like spring wheat and cotton. To support this burgeoning crop, the Cover Crop Breeding Network has created a nationwide selection and variety testing program for cereal rye. As a first step in the breeding process, Cornell University conducted a cereal rye survey to clarify grower and seed industry priorities for selection. Breeding nurseries in five different states (MD, MN, NC, NY, and WI) are selecting genotypes tailored to the diverse uses of cereal rye identified in the survey. Targets include biomass, late planting, establishment during drought, forage nutritive value, seed yield, and divergent selection for low and high allelopathy and/or early and late flowering. Many of these traits are also being evaluated in a nationwide coordinated rye variety trial for cover crop use across eight states (MD, MO, NC, ND, NY, OK, OR, and WI). To further understand how rye genotypes differentially perform among environments and cropping systems, the USDA-ARS is compiling historical data to create a global cover crop variety trialing database. Soybean growers have expressed strong interest in allelopathy to manage weeds, but growers of alfalfa and other allelopathy susceptible crops want to minimize damage to crops planted after rye. Trials with University of Wisconsin-Madison, USDA-ARS, and North Carolina State University are exploring the impact of rye genotype and management on allelopathy.