Perennial grain crop – kernza – to be studied in Rice, Goodhue counties
One downside of our current production of grain crops such as corn, soybeans, wheat, oats and barley is that these crops are annual crops, meaning that they need to be…
Millet anyone? Facing soil crisis, US farmers look beyond corn and soybeans
Shovel in hand, Duane Hager heads for his cornfield and digs up a shovelful of dirt, revealing wriggling earthworms. Although a pelting rain has soaked his gray T-shirt in seconds,…
The last harvest: My stepfather and the demise of the family farm
In August, my stepfather, Gord Will, announced that this fall would be his last harvest. At 72, and with each of those years spent on the vast agricultural plains in…
Could Kernza become a perennial alternative?
Every year since the 1870s, when turkey red wheat was brought to the Kansas plains, farmers have planted a wheat crop, harvested it, then planted it again in the fall….
Haven’t Heard of Kernza?
As a teenager growing up on a corn and soybean farm on the outskirts of Albert Lea, Minnesota, Lee DeHaan (M.S. ’00, Ph.D. ‘01) remembers having plenty of opportunities to…
Gaining Momentum
Part of a big idea hatched decades ago at The Land Institute continues a slow-but-significant evolution. Leaders are far from shouting their discoveries from the hilltops of eastern Saline County,…
Behold Kernza: Could this wheat save the planet?
“The problem that agriculture has faced for 10,000 years is it started with the wrong hardware,” said Fred Iutzi, president of The Land Institute, a research organization in Salina, Kan….
Fine-tuning a new crop that saves soil, produces grain and forage for cows
On a splendid May day, Valentin Picasso is visiting tests of a crop called kernza at the Arlington Agricultural Experimental Station north of Madison. As a perennial, kernza must survive…
Farmers get guidance on growing new perennial grains
While most industrial grain crops are annuals that must be replanted every year, a new perennial grain called Kernza® has hit the markets with growing interest from restaurants, bakeries and…
Kernza and the promise of perennial grain
ANAHEIM, CALIF. — At The Perennial restaurant in San Francisco, customers may order a crisp waffle, fresh-baked bread or a sourdough crumble made with Kernza, a perennial grain with deep…
Five Innovative Foods We’ll Be Seeing More of in the Future
On a shiny list of future foods, a humble grain might not stick out. But don’t let intermediate wheatgrass, a grain long found on America’s Great Plains, fool you. Originally…
Growing Against the Grain
The Land Institute pioneers a new paradigm that challenges our current destructive agriculture model: switching annual grain cropping to ecologically intensified perennial polycultures that mimic natural systems. By working with nature,…