Rye probably originated from the mountains of North Africa and the Near and Middle East, evolving as a food crop about 3,000 BC. It is able to withstand colder climates than wheat and by the 16th century was used for bread making in Russia and Northern Europe as well as in Britain.

With only a low gluten content, rye flour must be mixed with wheat flour to produce a good quality bread. However, the flour can be used for baking rye crisp-breads, or the flaked grain used in health foods. Rye is also malted for rye whiskey.

Rye can be grown to be harvested and fed into anaerobic digesters to obtain methane that can be used for electricity generation.