Post by Bernd Hackauf

𝟮𝟬𝟬 𝗬𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗝𝘂𝗹𝗶𝘂𝘀 𝗞𝘂𝗲𝗵𝗻 – 𝗕𝗿𝗲𝗲𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗠𝗶𝗻𝗱 🌾 When Julius Kuehn stepped into his first lecture hall in 1862, he did not teach theories alone. He taught a way of thinking: observe agriculture carefully, define an ideal, and strive toward it for the benefit of society. One of his students, 𝗙𝗲𝗿𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘃𝗼𝗻 𝗟𝗼𝗰𝗵𝗼𝘄, later became a pioneer of rye breeding and founder of the oldest and persistent successful German rye breeding program. Looking back on Kuehn’s lessons, he defined the core of plant breeding: “To breed is to begin with an ideal. You may never reach it, yet in striving toward it, you accomplish something worthwhile.” — 𝘑𝘶𝘭𝘪𝘶𝘴 𝘒𝘶̈𝘩𝘯, 𝘤𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘍𝘦𝘳𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘷𝘰𝘯 𝘓𝘰𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘸 (1910) Today, we might call Kuehn’s vision 𝙞𝙙𝙚𝙤𝙩𝙮𝙥𝙚 𝙗𝙧𝙚𝙚𝙙𝙞𝙣𝙜. At the dawn of rye breeding, genetics had not yet entered agriculture, Mendel’s laws would take decades to be recognized. And still, Kuehn’s conviction held true: 𝗯𝗿𝗲𝗲𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗴𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗶𝘀 𝗱𝗿𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗻 𝗯𝘆 𝗮 𝗰𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗿 𝘃𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗳𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗼𝘄 𝗶𝘁. 🏛️ 𝗙𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗹𝗲𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗵𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗳𝗶𝗲𝗹𝗱, Kuehn did not shape plants directly, he shaped the people who would do it. Their work, built on curiosity and responsibility, transformed rye into 𝗮 𝗰𝗿𝗼𝗽 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘀𝘂𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗼𝗱 𝘀𝗲𝗰𝘂𝗿𝗶𝘁𝘆, 𝘀𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗿𝗲𝗴𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗰𝘂𝗹𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝗘𝘂𝗿𝗼𝗽𝗲. 🔗 𝗪𝗵𝘆 𝗱𝗼𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗺𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗼𝗱𝗮𝘆? We follow the same guiding principle at the Julius Kühn-Institut: 𝗼𝗯𝘀𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗲 𝗱𝗲𝗲𝗽𝗹𝘆, 𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗺𝗲𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗶𝘀𝗺𝘀, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝘁𝗼𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗱 𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗿𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘀𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗲𝘀 𝗳𝗮𝗿𝗺𝗲𝗿𝘀, 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘀𝘂𝗺𝗲𝗿𝘀, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗲𝗻𝘃𝗶𝗿𝗼𝗻𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁. This principle guides us as we adapt rye further for the needs of tomorrow, including 𝗿𝗲𝗱𝘂𝗰𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝗻𝗽𝘂𝘁𝘀, 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘇𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗱𝘂𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿 𝗰𝗹𝗶𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘀, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗶𝗻𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗹𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵 𝗯𝗿𝗲𝗲𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘀𝗲𝗺𝗶𝗱𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗳 𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵𝗶𝘁𝗲𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲. 🎯 𝗜𝗱𝗲𝗮𝗹-𝗱𝗿𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗻 𝗯𝗿𝗲𝗲𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗿𝗲𝗺𝗮𝗶𝗻𝘀 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗮𝘀𝘀 Tools change — from microscopes to genome sequencers, crops change — from tall types to semidwarfs, but the heart of breeding remains the same: 𝗯𝗲𝗴𝗶𝗻 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗮𝗻 𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗮𝗹, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝘁𝗼𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗱 𝗶𝘁. 📢 In the next post of our 200 𝘠𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴 𝘑𝘶𝘭𝘪𝘶𝘴 𝘒𝘶𝘦𝘩𝘯 series, we will show how Kuehn’s mindset lives on in the development of semidwarf rye, a breeding innovation for farmers, consumers, and the environment. #JuliusKuehn200 #FutureIsRye #BreedingScience #PlantBreeding #HybridBreeding #KnowledgeTransfer #SustainableFarming #TalkAboutRye