Video & Audio Library

Civic Science collaborator Ellie Irons documents progress and shares insights from her experience working with the perennial oilseed Silphium integrifolium to illustrate how storytelling, photography, and data collection all connect to the broader social and ecological context of this prairie plant and its habitat, particularly in its journey to disrupt dominant lawn monocultures in the US.

Jacob Jungers, Kernza perennial grain research collaborator and Assistant Professor of Agronomy and Plant Genetics at the University of Minnesota, recently spoke on a webinar with the North Central Region Water Network about Kernza’s ability to greatly reduce nitrate leaching that stems from row crop production in the Upper Midwest and Great Plains regions of the US. In this webinar, Jacob also draws attention to the policy and market support measures that have developed in tandem with Kernza research.

Perennial grain research collaborator Sandeep Nain from Gateway Research Organization in Alberta, Canada, recently spoke on the Peace Country Beef and Forage Association podcast about the beneficial aspects of perennial grains in multi-crop agriculture systems. Topics of discussion include the benefits of sainfoin in intercropping configurations, the ability of perennial grains to adapt to variable weather conditions, the dual-purpose (food & forage) nature of Kernza, and more.

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.