The Secrets of Rye, Part 2: Who Will Buy Rye?
Behind the scenes of a supply chain under construction
By Yourianne Plante
In the first article of this series, we looked at rye from the producers’ point of view to assess the potential of hybrid winter rye as a third crop in the corn-soybean rotation. Beyond its agronomic benefits, for a crop to take hold in the long term, a sector also has to be ready to bring it into its operations.
The chicken or the egg?
For a producer, planting a crop that is still uncommon without knowing where it will be sold is a big risk. For a livestock feed company, changing a formulation without a guaranteed volume is another. Each side ends up waiting for a signal from the other: producers want to see demand, while buyers want a sufficient and reliable supply.
To break this deadlock, we need to bring together producers, advisors, grain handlers, feed manufacturers, livestock producers and processors, and make everyone’s constraints visible.
Learning to collaborate
It is in this spirit that FoodBridge is coordinating the “1,000 Tonnes” project. The goal is to build, by 2028, the first significant volume of hybrid winter rye for hog feed, produced by members of the Mauricie cohort. A thousand tonnes will not transform Quebec’s grain market on their own, but the number serves as a tipping point to move from intentions to decisions.
Several questions remain to be settled:
- How many hectares need to be planted?
- Where will the grain be stored and what quality criteria will it have to meet?
- How will it be incorporated into rations?
- What price will work for both producers and users?
- And how do we share the risk?
A working committee is currently looking at logistics, feed formulation, grain quality and economic conditions. This first volume was chosen as a starting point to test how grain actually moves from the field to its end use before considering a larger scale.
Creating demand instead of waiting for it
The agronomic and environmental potential of rye is well documented. It keeps soils covered over the winter, diversifies rotations and opens a window to establish a cover crop after harvest. In hog feed, it can replace a portion of the corn. But in a market with very tight margins, these benefits don’t outweigh the operational simplicity of corn.
Demand is built, then, when users specify their needs, intermediaries make the logistics workable and producers can plan with confidence. Collaboration doesn’t erase the risk, but it helps spread it more evenly.
A value chain to be built in stages
Hybrid winter rye won’t become a third crop everywhere, or overnight. It will have to prove its agronomic, economic and operational value in a range of contexts. The quick response from producers in the Mauricie cohort and the interest from the hog sector nonetheless suggest there is room to move forward.
The next harvest won’t provide all the answers. It can, however, deliver the data, volumes and relationships needed to take the first step.
What comes next will be built over successive harvests, and above all, as each player finds their place in this new value chain.
- Part 1 — What if hybrid rye became your third crop?
- Part 3 — From Quebec to Ontario: why hybrid rye is gaining ground
