Rye Crop and Disease Management in Kentucky Report on 2021-2022

Rye as a grain crop has a potential local market with distilleries. Farmers grew rye in Kentucky until about the 1920’s. In 2021, rye experienced Fusarium head blight at unacceptable levels in some of the farms and research plots. We propose to continue studies on the management of rye for grain. We include two primary hypotheses: 1) intensive management does not provide yield increases in rye to the extent it does in wheat and may cause reductions in grain quality; and 2) certain fungicides will reduce Fusarium head blight (FHB) on the plants and deoxynivalenol (DON) in the grain.