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Intermediate wheatgrass as a dual use crop for grain and grazing
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Find answers to commonly asked questions about our research, crops, and perennial agriculture.
We’re cultivating a perennial revolution—one seed, one field, one relationship, one story at a time. Learn how perennial crops support our mission to transform agriculture by providing holistic benefits to people and the planet.
A perennial is a plant that lives more than two years—distinct from annual plants, which die after one growing season and must be replanted every year.
In a monoculture, farmers grow one kind of crop in their field. In a polyculture, farmers grow multiple crops planted in diverse mixtures in their fields.
With continued development, perennial grains will have yields comparable to those of current annual grain crops. Perennial rice is already comparable to its annual rice counterpart.
We expect that perennial grain crops will fit into many different agricultural systems around the world, including organic, biodynamic, ROC, transitional, and conventional. Kernza perennial grain is already grown in many of these systems.
The Land Institute is an IRS-designated 501 (c)(3) non-profit research organization. We are predominately funded by donations from individuals and philanthropies, with some collaborative government grants with partners. Read more about our publicly available Financial reports here.
The Land Institute does not utilize CRISPR or other gene editing or gene insertion technology for perennial grain development. None of our crops are genetically modified organisms (GMOs). The Land Institute is actively working to understand the relevance, ethical considerations, benefits and risks of these technologies so we might better engage on these issues.
Some of our global collaborators are exploring the relevance of such technologies and experimenting with gene editing to identify genetic controls of certain traits in laboratory settings.
Our scientists and staff speak on a range of topics related to agriculture, ecology, and a just food future. We welcome opportunities to share our work with curious audiences and collaborative partners. Please fill out the request a speaker form here.
Use the form on our Contact Us page to send your questions, media inquiries, or other request to The Land Institute.
Kernza is more widely available than ever! Please see our Consumers page for more information and links.
Please see our Farmers page for more information and links.
Our crops are all in different development phases and not yet available to growers. Kernza is the only crops available for commercial use. Please see our Farmers page for more information and links as new crops move from the research phase and onto farms.
Our participatory science program mobilizes real people in communities all over the country to learn together as they each grow, care for, and study perennial grain crops. Please see our Participatory Science page to learn more about open opportunities.
Nutritional profiles have been determined by private entities, The University of Minnesota, and The Land Institute. While this information has not been published in a journal, the most recent data has been put into a bulletin by AURI and can be found here. In general, vitamin, mineral, and amino acid profiles are somewhat similar to wheat, with only a few striking differences.
Kernza® perennial grain is the trademarked name of the grain from domesticated Thinopyrum intermedium (intermediate wheatgrass). Perennial wheat is wide hybrid cross between annual wheat and various other perennial grain candidates, like Kernza and sea wheatgrass. Both Kernza and perennial wheat are in development at The Land Institute and with global partners.
The Land Institute administers the trademark on behalf of the Kernza® perennial grain community. Annual fees are required from growers, distributors, and food and beverage manufacturers who use the trademark. The revenue from these fees is nominal and is used to cover the cost of administrating the trademark and to support on-going research.