Despite the dramatic impact of drought and heat resulting in significant yield losses for most crops this season, there was better news for hybrid rye growers with many reporting high yields in line with previous years confirms Philip Marr, Renewable Biomass Consultant for Agrii.

Philip says” The agronomic benefits of hybrid rye have been well advertised for many years now. However, it’s fair to say that three very dry seasons ( in 2022, 2025 and 2026) have recently raised the focus on its future potential.

“Managing the hybrid rye trials at Agrii’s Brotherton iFarm at Knottingley, I’ve successfully trialled over 150 rye varieties during the last 16 years, with SU Karlsson, from Saaten Union and Elsoms, topping the trials over the last 3 consecutive years in both freshweight and biogas yield categories. Although Anaerobic Digestion (AD) is still currently the biggest end market for rye, SU Karlsson has also recorded very high grain yields, making it a true dual-use variety suitable for both grain and AD markets.

“With more biomethane injection and AD plants in development over the next 2 years, along with changing UK weather patterns, hybrid rye seems ideally positioned for growth as long as market demand for the crop continues to rise” adds Philip.

Hamish Knottenbelt, Arable Manager at Peacehill farm near Wormit in Dundee, works with Philip and sees hybrid rye playing a much bigger role in the farm’s future.

He says” We currently grow 280ha of hybrid rye, representing just under a third of our total cropping, with a plan to increase that area to 400ha for crop27. It fits neatly into the rotation as either a second cereal or following potatoes (if it’s early enough) and is grown as wholecrop for the farm’s own bio-digester plant.

“Drilling 67ha of SU Karlsson around September 9^th last year, the crop got away well and never really gave us any cause for concern. SU Karlsson ticks all the key boxes; low input costs, good biomass production, high brown rust resistance and a phenomenal ability to find moisture - even when there was virtually no rain between April and July.

“Harvesting between July 6^th -10^th , SU Karlsson achieved an average freshweight yield of 51.03t/ha. It looks an exceptionally good variety, and we’ll be substantially increasing our area of it this autumn” he concludes.

Northallerton based farmer Wayne Hardy has been growing hybrid rye for grain successfully for 6 years. Farming 113ha at Hall Farm, near Hutton Bonville, he currently grows 30-40ha of rye per year, all supplied to local pig producers for incorporation into pig diets.

Wayne adds” Hybrid rye is a flexible, reliable, low input, semi-break crop that produces a lot of straw and fits the second cereal slot extremely well - given it has very low susceptibility to take-all.

“We drilled 32ha of SU Karlsson into a combination of medium-heavy loam soils on the 23^rd-24^th of September last year. The crop established nicely, wintering well before kicking on again in early March after we’d applied 90kg/ha of liquid N with an inhibitor.

“In late April we followed up with 7kg/ha of Physio-N, a slow release foliar nitrogen treatment designed to help the crop cope in stress situations. This proved an excellent strategy following continued hot, dry conditions through May-July and the crop stayed green long enough to give me confidence that it was always hanging onto enough moisture to keep going.

“Cutting on July 29^th, the average yield was 9.58t/ha with the drought not impacting negatively on either straw yields or grain quality” he confirms.

Agrii crop nutrition specialist, John Charlton, who works with Wayne and a dozen other hybrid rye growers in North Yorkshire, sees a number of key reasons for SU Karlsson’s success since its arrival on the DL in 2024.

John says” SU Karlsson’s speed of development through autumn and winter, enabling it to suppress weeds is a huge plus. With an impressive 7 for resistance to brown rust, it has proven disease resilience and, as a dual-use variety, it’s able to deliver both high grain yields and high gas yields when grown as a feedstock for AD plants.

“It topped both the AHDB trials plus Agrii’s own trials and consistently replicates those results in commercial farm situations” he adds.

Farming 140ha just outside of Exmouth at Nutwell Farms Limited, Ben Pritchard is a relative newcomer to hybrid rye. 

Ben says” Adding hybrid rye to the rotation in 2025 has been an excellent decision for the business. We direct drilled 36ha of SU Karlsson into both good quality medium soils and a challenging block of heavy, clay land last Autumn, with the final harvest results between the 2 sites showing very little difference in yield – despite the soil variation.

“Hybrid rye is superb on autumn weed control, it establishes rapidly and is able to outcompete our weed burden. With a 2-spray fungicide program and just 2 main splits of N totalling 130-140kg/ha there are fewer passes through the crop, promoting soil health and eliminating soil compaction issues.

The low input levels are obviously critical for maintaining profit margins and, given I have other business interests away from the farm, it’s always nice to have one crop I don’t need to worry about.

“Harvesting on July 7^th, we recorded freshweight yields of 30.5t/ha – in line with what we achieved last year. The plan is to go with SU Karlsson again for crop27, increasing our area of forage crops and dropping wheat from the rotation completely this autumn.

“With a firm eye on maintaining soil health, we will continue to build break crops such as OSR around both our maize and hybrid rye in order to break up disease pressure and to maintain effective weed control” he concludes.

Covering both mid and East Devon, Agrii agronomist Tom Bernhardt currently advises a number of SU Karlsson growers, including Ben. Working with farmers who predominantly crop on lighter soils, he sees significant opportunities for future growth in the hybrid rye sector with the recent hotter, drier weather a potential catalyst for rotation change.

Tom says” Ben’s approach to growing more hybrid rye and dropping wheat from future rotations isn’t an isolated case by any means. The performance of hybrid rye, even on lighter land across several dry years, has been remarkably good when compared to other cereal crops. The sharp rise in Nitrogen costs is also a big factor when you consider that most growers will apply about 100kg/ha less N on hybrid rye than on a comparable area of winter wheat.

“One of the barriers to growth in the hybrid rye sector is that many growers see it as purely about wholecrop for AD without really considering other end markets. The very high protein levels in rye grain exceed anything else in the grain market, so growing it for animal feed has to be worth a look – particularly if a farm is located near commercial pig units that mill and mix their own feed.

“With the cost of producing winter wheat exceptionally high right now, hybrid rye looks very attractive, and, in SU Karlsson, growers have a high-yielding, high-output, dual purpose variety suitable for both the grain and AD markets” he concludes.

Toby Reich, Head of Agricultural Sales at Elsoms Seeds, which introduced and commercialised SU Karlsson in the UK on behalf of Saaten Union adds;

“We have always had great confidence in SU Karlsson since bringing it to market, and it is extremely pleasing to see that confidence being validated in commercial farm situations across the country.

“The combination of outstanding drought resilience, consistent high yield performance and genuine dual-purpose flexibility is helping more growers recognise the potential of hybrid rye within future arable rotations. As farming businesses continue to adapt to changing weather patterns, rising input costs and evolving market opportunities, the Elsoms Seeds hybrid rye portfolio is proving it can deliver both agronomic and economic value, whether grown for grain or for AD”.