Why perennials?

A perennial is a plant that lives more than two years—distinct from annual plants, which die after one growing season. Perennial grains (like Kernza®) can have an average of four times the root mass of annual wheat.

Deep-rooted perennial grain crops have the ability to combine conservation with food production and economic resilience. With greater adaptability to a changing climate, perennial grains can be a powerful tool for growing food while considering natural resource availability, the cost of farming inputs, and the need to conserve soil to ensure food security for future generations.

Perennial grains are new hardware for agriculture that can transform how we farm by changing what we grow. These long-lived alternatives to major grains, including cereals, legumes, and oilseeds, will allow farmers to plant once and harvest a crop for many years without replanting.

To develop perennial grain crops, we domesticate wild species with the potential to become staple crops by observing important characteristics like high yield. We also create hybrids by crossing annual grains with related perennials to produce plants with yield traits from the annual and regrowth capabilities from the perennial.

Today’s agricultural and food systems are extractive of environmental, human, and economic resources. Diverse perennial grain systems can catalyze change by promoting a long-term approach to ecological resilience and economic prosperity in food and farming.

As the first commercially available perennial grain on the market, Kernza perennial grain has sparked the imaginations of many, from farmers to food enthusiasts, bakers to brewers, and conservationists to climate activists.