Video & Audio Library

At the 2023 Eastern Nebraska Soil Health Conference hosted by the University of Nebraska – Lincoln, graduate student Roberta Rebesquini presented research on Kernza related to its benefits to soil health, the ecosystem services it provides, and the reason why farmers are interested in growing this perennial grain. Roberta works on the KernzaCAP project under the supervision of Dr. Andrea Basche in the Resilient Cropping Systems Lab within the university’s Department of Agronomy and Horticulture.

NPR’s weekly science podcast Short Wave recently featured a story on perennial rice, which took place during the 2023 Annual Meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) in Washington, DC. Short Wave’s Scientist in Residence Regina G. Barber spoke with Tim Crews, Chief Scientist at The Land Institute, and research collaborator Eric Sachs about the environmental and socioeconomic benefits of this perennial grain.

Our team of science collaborators has developed a new R package, “uafR,” that automates the process of identifying chemicals from gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC/MS) data.

Researchers can use this package to identify large chemistry datasets in hours rather than weeks or months, as was previously required. This software will help researchers quickly measure and identify natural chemical compounds in diverse perennial grain plants that could be used in organic pest management, thus allowing them to deploy natural plant chemistry tactics to manage pests that limit perennial grain crop growth and agricultural production.

The developers of the package explain how it came to be and what it does.

To download the uafR package and learn more about its functions, please visit: https://github.com/castratton/uafR

*Note: This package does not run on Linux systems.

During Mizzou Agroforestry’s 2023 Agroforestry Symposium, Aubrey Streit Krug, Director of Ecosphere Studies at The Land Institute, introduced several researchers who presented on the cultural and ecological dynamics associated with perennial crop improvement and the land in which perennial crops are grown.

Tessa Peters, Director of Crop Stewardship at The Land Institute, discusses producer-informed research and on-farm integration of perennial grain crops at the 2023 Agroforestry Symposium hosted by Mizzou Agroforestry.

“Remnant Agro-ecology: Notes from the Fertile Crescent” was presented by Dr. Omar Tesdell, Associate Professor of Geography, Birzeit University, Palestine, at Prairie Festival 2022.

“We Have Always Been at the Roots: The Black Farm Experience” – a panel conversation with the Kansas Black Farmer’s Association, hosted by Dr. JohnElla Holmes, Executive Director and President, and members Donna McClish, Web Davis, and Ryan Tenney at Prairie Festival 2022.

Rachel Stroer, President, The Land Institute, presents “New Roots and Our Unthinkable Future” at Prairie Festival 2022.

Huascar Medina, Poet Laureate of Kansas, presents the Perennial Strachan and Vivian Donnelley Family Keynote Address “Un Mango Grows in Kansas” at Prairie Festival 2022.

“In Real Time: Chronicles of a Fate Unknown” – A conversation with Alexia Leclercq, grassroots organizer and Co-Founder of Start:Empowerment, and Stan Cox, Research Fellow, Ecosphere Studies, The Land Institute, at Prairie Festival 2022.

“Back to the Land: How to Live in the World without Destroying It” was presented by Eric Schlosser, Journalist, Filmmaker, and Author of Fast Food Nation, at Prairie Festival 2022.

“Updates on Progress Toward a Perennial Future” was a presentation by The Land Institute’s Dr. Tim Crews, Chief Scientist, and Dr. Aubrey Streit Krug, Director of Ecosphere Studies, at Prairie Festival 2022.