KERNZA – Perennial Wheat for a Healthier Planet
80-85% of the world’s plant-based food supply comes from annual plants. Every year, farmers clear their land of competing weeds, sow seeds, grow crops, harvest them – then start all…
Illinois farmers testing new wheatgrass crop
A small group of farmers, including some in Illinois, is pioneering a new crop that is in great demand already, but still has a way to go before it is…
5 ingredients disrupting the mainstream food world (and 1 big one that no supplier offers)
Never heard of kernza? It’s the face of regenerative agriculture. The Land Institute has been conducting trials for 40 years to cross-breed “deep root” traits of perennial prairie grass cousins…
The Grain That Tastes Like Wheat, but Grows Like a Prairie Grass
For 12,000 years, human agriculture has cultivated grains that are replanted every year, at enormous environmental cost. Kernza represents a new way forward. In 1977, Wes Jackson, co-founder of…
A new grain – Kernza – finds its way into products
The Land Institute in Salina, Kan., is responsible for domesticating Kernza, and has trademarked its name (hence the capitalization). In 2013, it began collaborating with the University of Minnesota, where…
Local pizza shop adds new wheatgrass crust option
Athens-based business Avalanche Pizza announced Tuesday that it may be the first pizza restaurant in the country to permanently include pizza with dough made from a “perennial wheatgrass” called Kernza…
Kernza could be promising grain, forage crop
Farmers who are looking for an alternative to corn and soybeans — and a crop that grows back each year — might want to consider the benefits of growing a…
The [Hudson Valley] Farm Hub Partners with the Land Institute to Grow Kernza
The Hudson Valley Farm Hub is pleased to announce a partnership with The Land Institute, a Kansas-based non-profit dedicated to researching sustainable agriculture. The Land Institute’s development of Kernza, a distant cousin…
Kernz-huh? Could the perennial promise of Kernza benefit food, beer, and the world?
There’s a new-ish crop that’s been sprouting hopeful conversation in recent years. Kernza is the name given by Kansas-based The Land Institute to a specific germ line of perennial wheatgrass. Like a long-lost,…
Promising research for perennial plants on the Prairies
Researchers say commercial perennial crops suitable for prairie production could be available in as little as 15 years. It’s already been about 90 years of work, but the finish line…
The promise of perennials: Working through the challenges of perennial grain crop development
It’s early spring, and among a series of brown and barren crop fields, one field stands out. It’s covered with a stand of lush green grass. It’s a sight to…
Minnesota cultivates the crops of tomorrow
Land Institute partners in Minnesota are working with Kernza® and helping advance agriculture toward perennial grain polycultures. Check out this exciting project, just one example of The Land Institute’s global…