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Rye in combination with wheat is the major bread grain in northern Europe. Consuming rye whole grain products provides a rich source of dietary fibre as well as several bioactive compounds with potentially positive health implications. Due to limited research data concerning rye growing under different cultivation systems, there is also a lack of information on the influence of these systems on the quality properties of rye breads. The goal of the research was to compare the responses of rye to the conditions of organic and conventional management. The analysed properties included grain yield and quality, followed by the quality properties of whole grain flour, and ending with those of the end-product. Baking tests were carried out by using sourdough fermentation, and the pasting behaviours of rye flours were assessed using the Brabender Viscograph. Rye was grown on a sandy loam Albic Stagnic Luvisol (LVab-st) in a five-year crop rotation. Red clover was ploughed into the soil as green manure before rye sowing. For the organic treatment, no agrichemicals were used. For the conventional treatment, mineral fertilizers (N 83 P 30 K 75 kg ha-1 in total) and herbicides were applied. The results of this seven-year experiment showed that the grain yield by the organic treatment was 64% of that obtained by the conventional treatment. For the conventional treatment, the protein content was significantly (P < 0.05) higher than for the organic treatment. An inverse correlation (r = −0.596) was determined between protein and starch contents of rye whole grain flour. Although several differences occurred in the flour properties and fluctuations in the viscograms for the organic and conventional treatments, no significant differences in the properties of breads were established between the treatments. Consequently, the breads baked by using whole grain flour derived from organically and conventionally cultivated rye were practically of the same quality.

Rye (Secale cereale L.) is a minor cereal with potential to support sustainable farming practices. This study evaluated the performance of four old and modern European open‐pollinated winter rye cultivars grown with different nitrogen (N) sources (cattle slurry, farmyard manure, biogas digestate, mineral N) at two rates of N 50 and 100 kg ha−1 in the United Kingdom and Estonia, in the 2014–2015 and 2015–2016 growing seasons. Grain yield in Estonia was higher than the United Kingdom (6.2 vs. 4.8 t ha−1), which was attributed to a higher ear density (409.4 vs. 249.7 ears m−2) and grain number per ear (50.2 vs. 43.2), although 1,000‐grain weight was higher in the United Kingdom. There were clear differences between sites in the response to N source with significant N source × year interactions. Biogas digestate and mineral N produced higher grain yield than farmyard manure and cattle slurry in the United Kingdom, whereas in Estonia cattle slurry had a lower grain yield than the other N sources. Foliar diseases were absent in Estonia and in the United Kingdom, and N source only affected powdery mildew and leaf blotch on Leaf 2. The response of grain quality to N source and variety was consistent across both sites. The modern variety Elias had the highest Hagberg falling number and specific weight but the lowest protein content, whereas the variety Schlägler had the highest protein content but lowest specific weight. The benefits of selecting cultivars for specific environments are shown by the interactions between genotype and environment.