How a New Grain Could Help Combat Climate Change
Scientists in Minnesota and Kansas are developing a grain called Kernza, which, unlike most of our food crops, is a perennial plant with a whole host of environmental benefits. While…
Local Water Quality Protection Efforts Attract Attention
Laura DeBeer found herself doing some unusual but welcome things during mid-October. First, the Minnesota Department of Health (DOH) came to Pipestone County specifically to film DeBeer doing her job….
Wheatgrass helping to keep Chatfield’s water clean
City officials are finding that perennial crop cover wheatgrass may just be the way to improve water quality in Chatfield. “We have nitrate levels of 0.4 to 0, and it’s…
10 Organizations Fighting Climate Change With Food
A recently published United Nations report warned that climate change threatens the world’s food supply. Diminishing water supply, increasing population growth, rising temperatures and deforestation combined with unsustainable land use create a…
With New Perennial Grain, a Step Forward for Eco-Friendly Agriculture
Some 40 years ago, Wes Jackson, a plant geneticist, founded The Land Institute on the prairie near Salina, Kansas. Concerned that modern agriculture destroyed native grasslands, he asked a question that came…
Editorial: Sacred Seeds effort preserves history for future
The nation’s first farmers were Native Americans. Today, there still are lessons to learn from their efforts so long ago. While evolution in the farm industry has been a constant…
‘Braiding the sacred’: Land Institute studies relationship between people, plants
A ritual in May in a field near Salina changed Abbi Han’s life. Han had never been a caretaker for plants. Now, the research resident at the Land Institute is…
Follow the Food – Why Soil is Disappearing from Farms
Follow the Food – a multimedia series by BBC Future and BBC World News – investigates how farmers, researchers and innovators are working to secure a sustainable long-term future for…
Could perennial grains be the next climate-saving superstars?
A new cereal grain more than 40 years in the making is finding its way into the marketplace in several forms, including a new product from food giant General Mills….
Climate change predicted to reduce size, stature of dominant Midwest plant, collaborative study finds
The economically important big bluestem grass — a dominant prairie grass and a major forage grass for cattle — is predicted to reduce its growth and stature by up to…