(Secale cereale); Heritage - Centennial; a Michigan Connection cultivar; Fall-planted; Minimum 50 seeds
We are VERY excited to grow this historic rye that was introduced by Michigan State's Frank A. Spragg and are grateful to Michael Kasler of Taylor Creek Distillery for providing us with our initial seed sample.
"In 1909, the Michigan Agricultural Experiment Station received a sample of pedigreed rye from Russia, through Mr. J.A. Rosen, a Russian student who graduated from the Agricultural College in 1908. Since the Russian name of this rye was unknown it was named Rosen rye. Figure No. 1 [posted] shows the first piece of Rosen rye planted in Michigan, fall 1909."*
From the first planting of Rosen rye in 1909, the Michigan Crop Improvement Association began selection and improvement work to ensure pure, high grade seed. During 1917, under war time conditions, over 250,000 acres of Rosen rye were sown by Michigan farmers; this doubled in 1918 to over 500,000 acres. By 1921 the entirety of rye on Michigan's South Manitou Island was Rosen rye. As supply increased and with the spread of word of Rosen's desirable attributes, the rye became commercially available to growers outside of Michigan, with "carloads" leaving the state in 1917.
*Frank A. Spragg "Rosen Rye" Michigan Agricultural College AES Special Bulletin No. 105
Rye is wind-pollinated and we can only grow one cultivar per season. Rosen is planned for harvest in 2024.
