b"PARTNER CONTENTThe Crop That Can Change Your FarmBy: Becca Brattain, U.S. Country Manager at KWS CerealsA t KWS Cereals we may be the new seed company kid on the block in the United States but globally, weve been around for a long time. We were founded in 1856 in Germany and since then our company has grown to now include operations in 70 countries worldwide. We are family owned and we treat our customersour farmersas part of that family.When we first came to the U.S. just over 10 years ago to launch KWS Cereals we had big dreams. We knew American farmers care for their fields and are innovative which is why we knew wed be a great fit. In the years since weve grown to a small but mighty team of eight with dealers and distributors from coast to coast.Our sole focus is seed. We bring value to farmers through how were able to improve plant breeding and seed production. We don't sell fertilizer, we don't sell chemicals, we don't sell seed treatmentswere truly driven by advancing seed and seed technologies.One of the crops we knew would fit like a glove in the U.S. wasWhen I talk to farmers, theyre always blown away by how our our hybrid rye varieties. In the past rye may have been viewed ashybrid rye performs in their fields. They're used to thinking of this a bad word on your farm, as it would lodge, become infected withcrop that their granddad grew which wasn't high yieldingit was ergot, be low yielding and you probably planted it on your worstbig, it was bushy, and it fell over. My favorite comment is when land. Hybrid rye is not your granddads rye, its the crop that canguys call up and say this is the best-looking wheat crop I've ever change your farm. seen. And I'm like, well, it's actually not wheat, it's a hybrid rye.Hybrid rye is a hybridized traditional open pollinated rye thatsEvery year weve seen hybrid rye acreage increase and expand made to be winter hardy and ergot resistant. It needs less nitrogen this is a trend we hope continues to climb. We have big goals for than winter wheat to grow, and across the board input costs arehybrid rye. Currently, the U.S. imports a lot of the rye we use. At lower for it. We have five varieties for both grain and forage useKWS Cereals we want to change that. We want to grow this com-that are made for the mid to northern states. Our varieties havemodity on our own home soil to be able to meet the multi-market double the yield of traditional ryes, with farmers having reportedneeds here in the U.S. We want hybrid rye to lose the speciality yields ranging from well over 100 to north of 150 bushels per acre.crop title and become a regular part of your crop rotation. Be-Weve even saw fields go over the 200 bushels per acre mark. cause to us and hopefully now to you, hybrid rye is the future.JUNE 2022SEEDWORLD.COM /39"