Available material consists of selected lines that vary in their uniformity and degree of adaption to temperate latitudes. The Rodale Research Center in Pennsylvania and the USDA Plant Introduction Station at Ames, Iowa, are two locations where significant work has been done in developing amaranth varieties. A small number of commercial breeders are also working with the crop. While the Ames research group is not yet releasing its lines, Rodale has been distributing a number of lines, including some that have been grown successfully in Minnesota, R1041, R1011, K343, K283, and K266. Sources of grain amaranth seed.
Seedlings are fragile, so it is important to have a fine, firm seedbed.
Seedbed preparation can be done with a disk or spiketooth harrow, followed by cultipacking and planting, preferably using a planter with press wheels. Crusting can be a serious problem, and although no solutions have been researched, rotary hoeing may be helpful. Since seeds are shallow planted, there is potential for them to wash out on sloping ground. Row spacing should be based on the cultivator equipment available. A number of planter types have been used successfully to deal with the small seeds of amaranth.