“We got serious about planting rye plots with the 2019 crop, when we planted a trial involving different rye cultivars including hybrids on three different planting dates,” Van Sanford said. “We repeated the study in 2020.” INCREASED OPPORTUNITY FOR MORE FARMERS In 2019, DendriFund secured grants for four, geographically dispersed Kentucky farm families to produce 25 acres of rye, expanding the project to farm-scale trials with UK. They used varieties and practices that were showing promise in CAFE research. Woodford Reserve Distillery purchased the rye in Sep-
tember, after three of the four farms passed their quality standards. The money the farmers received from the sale went back into the fund to help the program become self-sustaining and involve more producers. Woodford Reserve will use the rye for distillate flavor research in partnership with Van Sanford. The distillery made a 10-year commitment in 2020 to repeat distillation trials for another four years to evaluate the grain in the project through maturation. Woodford Reserve agreed to share the results of their sensory research with farmer participants and other distilleries to further encourage funds raised through purchase.
“Kentucky-grown rye could have a flavor and taste that is unique to Kentucky,” Van Sanford said. “It could result in distilleries producing many specialty products featuring Kentucky rye. If it has the same flavor as imported rye, there is opportunity for us in current products” said Chris Morris, Woodford Reserve master distiller. UK researchers hope to work with their colleagues at the James B. Beam Institute for Kentucky Spirits at the University of Kentucky to increase local distilleries’ interest in Kentucky-grown rye. In 2020, UK and DendriFund asked American Farmland Trust to become a partner in the program and steward the project’s management. American Farmland Trust applied for and received a grant from the Kentucky Agricultural Development Board for the Kentucky Commercial Rye Cover Crop Initiative on behalf of the partners. This funding will help expand the initial pilot project to 20 producers, each growing 25 acres of rye for the 2020-2021 growing season. “This project is exciting, because not only are farmers raising Kentucky-grown rye for the brewing, baking and distilling industries, but they are improving soil health at the same time. At American Farmland Trust, we are conserving farmland by the acres and by the inch, and these farmers are keeping the land in agriculture,” said Billy Van Pelt, who is the senior director of external relations for the trust and a 1997 graduate of the College of Agriculture, Food and Environment. “Our overall goals for the project are to have Kentucky farmers producing 3,000 acres of rye within three years and to have 10,000 acres in rye production by 2030. We estimate those 10,000 acres would provide an additional $5 million in farm revenue.” Scott Franklin is the rye project manager for American Farmland Trust and is working directly with participating farmers.
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