Back in the 90’s (?) I got several winter tetraploid rye varieties from USDA/GRIN. There were some from US, and some from Europe, I think Macedonia and Germany. They have had their chromosomes doubled, which leads to larger plants and seeds, but often poorer seed set or shriveled seeds. I just let them naturally cross, and have grown it for ~ 30 years. The only selection I have done is occasionally for stronger stems, and nice looking heads with good seed set and plump seeds. It grows 5-7 feet tall, and the stems can be amazingly thick and strong. Much thicker than my winter wheat. I have about ~10 pounds of grain harvested, I would be willing to share, if people will let us know how it does for them.
I plant it in early October. Here are the plants in mid March, planted with fasciated winter peas as an intercrop:
Here are mature plants on June 30, 2023. There is a yellow yard stick for scale:
Here’s some heads from my threshing out this morning:
And here is a random sample of 5.0 grams of seeds. I counted 110 seeds, giving ~45 gm/1000 kernels. Most seeds are plump. I don’t get as much bird damage with the rye:
