A plant in Kansas sent researchers for a loop.
As farmers prepared for field inspections as part of the Kansas Crop Improvement Association’s (KCIA) routine visits, some reported seeing a wild plant that looked like rye or triticale.
Genetic testing found the plant is a wheat and triticale hybrid.
“Triticale is already a cross between wheat and rye, so I honestly didn’t know that a hybrid could hybridize again with wheat,” Marion Spiering, manager of field services and seed certification for KCIA, told Kansas State University.