Change From the ground up.

Save the Aquifers of the San Luis Valley.
Save San Luis Valley Agriculture.
Save a Colorado Community.
Grow & Buy Resurgence Rye!

The Rye Resurgence Project:
an Origin Story

Sarah Jones of Hooper, CO-based Jones Family Organics has seen increased interest in rye and a desire to build a deeper connection between local farmers and consumers. Consumers across Colorado and the West want to know where their grain comes from and how it is raised - it’s a growing desire across the country for a conscientious food market. Jones saw the demand and her family began to grow more rye - a heritage grain and winter cover crop that uses less water, improves soil health, and has a complex flavor profile for a variety of uses.

One recent spring, as Dust Bowl conditions spread across the Valley and many families wondered how to keep their multi-generational farms intact with declining aquifer levels, Jones had a big idea:

“What if we build on the relationships our farm and others have with rye consumers to grow the market and cause a resurgence in demand for San Luis Valley rye?”

Jones approached Heather Dutton, Manager at the San Luis Valley Water Conservancy District (SLVWCD), and the women-led Rye Resurgence Project was born!

Sand Storm Cloud
Jones Farm Organics field of green rye with sprinkler pivot irrigation system under blue sky with clouds.
Aerial view of San Luis Valley circular crop fields using center pivot irrigation in a semi-arid landscape.

The Rye Resurgence Project: Objectives

  • The most critical piece of the Project is the investment in market development. The Project partners see increased rye production as a way to support continued agriculture production while enabling water use reduction. The Project partners have committed to investing significant effort and resources in marketing, branding materials, and personnel to develop relationships between the growers and the end users of rye such as brewers, distillers, millers, bakers, and consumers.

    By keeping farmers farming, the future health of the community will be sustained.

  • It is estimated that rye requires 12 inches to grow where crops such as barley or oats require an average of 20 inches. This difference is huge in a region that is working to find ways to conserve water in order to balance Rio Grande water use with supply.

    In 2024, the latest data was published on the valley's water, showing a plummeting aquifer at its lowest recorded level in history. Building the market for San Luis Valley Resurgence Rye will give farmers options to significantly reduce water use and improve soil health, while still earning a living wage and supporting the local community.

  • A winter cover crop, rye improves soil health, prevents erosion during the windy spring months, and uses less water than other rotational crops.

  • Local farmers planted thousands of acres of rye in fall of 2023, and harvest of this year's crop is on the horizon. The marketing team is hard at work building and expanding relationships to sell San Luis Valley rye at a fair price in order to support farmers while supplying a premium product to producers. The San Luis Valley is known for the exceptional flavor of its grains and Project partners are certain that as more people try the rye they will fall in love with the taste and quality.

Rye Resurgence Farm Partners

A healthy economy depends on a healthy environment. The agricultural economy of the San Luis Valley relies on the Rio Grande, and specifically on the San Luis Valley aquifer system - the groundwater from which has been significantly depleted to unsustainable levels due to continued pumping at a greater rate than aquifer recharge. The Rye Resurgence project requires all of its rye to be grown with minimal water usage to dramatically reduce reliance on groundwater and preserve the Rio Grande.

Since its launch, the Project has contracted with 10 San Luis Valley farmers, each growing 120 acres of winter rye planted following fall potato harvest in 2023.

30 acres of this rye will be grown to maturity and marketed at a premium price and 90 acres will be grown with minimal water use (approximately 4 inches of water), and either turned into the soil as a green manure or grazed by livestock.

Because aquifer sustainability is a primary goal of the Project, farmers have pledged to grow the rye with only the surface water supplies recharged. Therefore, there will not be a negative impact to the aquifer. Growing rye to maturity requires approximately 12 inches of water. By comparison, barley consumes 18-22 inches, potatoes need 18-24 inches, and alfalfa uses 24-30 inches of water.

Grants & Funding

  • Scenic view of a tranquil Rio Grande river surrounded by green trees and vegetation under a blue sky with clouds.

    San Luis Valley Water Conservancy District

    The Conservancy District is greatly committed to the project because of the environmental and community promise of rye. A winter crop, rye improves soil health, prevents erosion during the windy spring months, and uses less water than other rotational crops.

  • Green road sign reading 'Rio Grande' with trees and cloudy sky in the background.

    Colorado Water Conservation Board

    The Colorado Water Conservation Board (CWCB) supported the Rye Resurgence Project launch with a grant to the San Luis Valley Water Conservancy District and the farm partners growing resurgence rye for market development. Thank you CWCB!

  • A close-up of a hand holding a handful of ground rye grain ready to be added to the beer brewing process.

    Trinchera-Blanca Foundation

    Thanks o the Trinchera-Blanca Foundation, the Rye Resurgence Project and The Colorado Farm Brewery have teamed up on a new line of craft beers branded as “The Dust Bowl Series.” This lineup pays homage to the power of rye to support the sustainability of farming and combat the blowing topsoil caused by windstorms in the San Luis Valley. The beers will be featured at the 2024 Great American Beer Festival (GABF).