Which state grows the most rye?
🔎 Skip to the answer (ranking table)Guess
Which states grow the most rye (the grain in dark rye bread and pumpernickel)? Tap them most-to-least.
Tapping assigns 1→4 in order
I bet… New York — that's deli country, home of the rye bread! 🥪
Answer
The real order is…
North Dakota grows about 1.47× as much as #2 Oklahoma!
📚 Background You know rye from dark rye bread and pumpernickel — a grain many people picture coming from old bakery towns back east. But rye is the toughest of all the cereal grains: it shrugs off cold and poor soil where wheat would fail. So America's #1 rye state is cold, northern North Dakota — with a Pennsylvania Dutch state far down the list. (USDA NASS Quick Stats) (opens in a new tab)
🔍 Explore more: 🌾『The bread grain that laughs at frost』→ I bet… New York — that's deli country, home of the rye bread! 🥪
Compare
Rye grown (bushels, 2024)
Most: North Dakota (2,784,000 bu); least shown here: Minnesota (940,000 bu).
Note: measured in bushels of rye grain. Only states that publish a value are shown. Only the top states are shown here — smaller producers (and states USDA doesn't publish) aren't listed.
The toughest grain of them all!
Recap
🏅 Today's discovery
🏅 North Dakota is the USA's #1!
🐕 States in Numbers
Quiz a friend!
📋 See the ranking table (top 6)
| Rank | State | Value | Share of U.S. total |
|---|---|---|---|
| #1 | North Dakota | 2,784,000 bu | 18.9% |
| #2 | Oklahoma | 1,890,000 bu | 12.8% |
| #3 | South Dakota | 1,456,000 bu | 9.9% |
| #4 | Wisconsin | 1,170,000 bu | 7.9% |
| #5 | Pennsylvania | 1,092,000 bu | 7.4% |
| #6 | Minnesota | 940,000 bu | 6.4% |
| 🇺🇸 USA (total) | 14,729,000 bu | 100% |
Only the top states are shown here — smaller producers (and states USDA doesn't publish) aren't listed.
Source: USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service (2024)
Sources
Data as of: 2024
USDA NASS Quick Stats: RYE - PRODUCTION, MEASURED IN BU, 2024, by state (opens in a new tab) (2026-07-24) — Published estimates only. States with unpublished (suppressed) values are omitted.
↳ In Quick Stats, pick RYE / PRODUCTION in BU, year 2024, and compare states.