Harvest Letter 2024

As we approach the end of the year, I have been reflecting on the transformative work happening at The Land Institute right now, near and far. Thanks to supporters like you, our vision for regenerative, perennial agriculture is taking root—not only in the US but across the globe. The steady, unwavering progress achieved by The Land Institute’s researchers continues to anchor and assure continuity in perennial grains work in the US, while our International Initiative is helping to propagate new geographically relevant research hubs worldwide.

Grounded in the US Great Plains, our reach expands through initiatives that connect us with international partners. Our scientists and staff work closely with teams in diverse regions— sharing seeds, knowledge, and strategies to support local agricultural resilience.

We are also embracing a broader mission. Beyond research, we are strategically building a movement—one that brings together coalition-building, communication, leadership, and philanthropy to shift toward perennial agriculture. We aim to catalyze real, systemic change by collaborating with partners in science, policy, and community leadership worldwide. The seeds of this movement are emerging in profound ways across our planet.

• A new perennial grain hub in Ukraine, where five agricultural universities—known as The Agriculture-Food-Environment and Soils Hub (AFES)—came together amidst ongoing conflict to test Kernza® perennial grain in monoculture and intercropping systems. Like Kansas, Ukraine has remarkably fertile soils, originally developed under the diverse perennial grasslands of the steppes. Also, like Kansas, Ukraine’s soils have experienced declines in soil organic matter and soil health due to continuous annual grain monoculture cultivation. These similarities make Ukraine an invaluable location to test cool-season perennial grains like Kernza. This collaboration, guided by shared research protocols, ensures that results from Ukrainian trials will be directly comparable to sites in the US Great Plains, amplifying the global relevance and impact of Kernza for both countries. In support of these efforts, our US and Ukrainian partners translated the Kernza Growers Guide into Ukrainian, providing researchers with essential information and establishing a foundation for long-term impact. The Ukrainian Hub is expanding work on Kernza into new geographies.
• High in the Bolivian Andes, a new perennial grain crop has emerged. Dr. Alejandro Bonifacio, a celebrated and leading quinoa breeder at PROINPA—a foundation focused on innovation with Andean crops—is in the early stages of crossing annual quinoa with perennial relatives to create a crop that can sustain both the soil and its people. Quinoa continues to be a staple food for the indigenous peoples in the Andes, as it has been for millennia. Bonifacio has good evidence to support the viability of crossing an annual grain crop with a perennial relative—the same technique Dr. Fengyi Hu used to successfully breed perennial rice in China, which garnered global recognition for its potential to transform food systems in Asia and Africa. At The Land Institute, scientists Dr. Shuwen Wang and Dr. Pheonah Nabukalu are both making progress in developing perennial varieties of wheat and sorghum using the same method. PROINPA has partnered with The Land Institute and regional experts supported by the McKnight Foundation to move from pre-breeding to breeding—a massive step in advancing a resilient future for food and farming.
• The Land Institute will co-host the International Perennial Grains Symposium: Pathways to a Perennial Future with the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) in Mexico in March 2025. CIMMYT is best known for Dr. Norman Borlaug’s pioneering work on annual wheat, which helped launch the “Green Revolution” in the 1960s, drastically increasing crop yields and addressing hunger worldwide. While this movement achieved remarkable productivity, it also led to ecological challenges, including soil depletion and reliance on fossil fuel-based inputs. Today, CIMMYT and its sister centers in the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) are evolving to address these pressing concerns, prioritizing social and agroecological factors alongside crop yields. This pivotal symposium will bring together over 150 researchers from more than 25 countries to advance perennial grains as a core strategy to address climate change and food security, fostering new partnerships, deepening global collaboration, and defining pathways for international adoption.

These projects—from the Ukrainian hub to the Bolivian perennial quinoa initiative to the landmark symposium in Mexico—are possible because of The Land Institute’s commitment to foundational breeding, ecological, and social research in the Central Great Plains, from where I write to you today. Expanding the diversity of perennial grains under development broadens their cultural relevance and strengthens resilience in farming systems worldwide. This growing diversity also increases the likelihood of discovering highly compatible intercrop combinations, or polycultures, that can enhance soil health and productivity.

My excitement for these developments is palpable. At this pivotal moment, when the challenge of making progress can feel overwhelming and hard-won, your support becomes a powerful act of hope—and the bridge that transforms our research into real-world impact. Together, we can realize a perennial future for agriculture. By making a gift today, you bring us closer to a world where agriculture restores rather than depletes, nurtures resilience, and sustains generations to come. 

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With gratitude and best wishes for a bountiful harvest season,