Kernza® Grain

In 1983, using Wes Jackson’s vision to develop perennial grain crops as inspiration and guidance, plant breeders at the Rodale Institute selected a Eurasian forage grass called intermediate wheatgrass (scientific name Thinopyrum intermedium), a grass species related to wheat, as a promising perennial grain candidate. Beginning in 1988, researchers with the USDA and Rodale Institute undertook two cycles of selection for improved fertility, seed size, and other traits in New York state.

The Land Institute’s breeding program for intermediate wheatgrass began in 2003, guided by Dr. Lee DeHaan. Multiple rounds of selecting and inter-mating the best plants based on their yield, seed size, disease resistance, and other traits have been performed, resulting in improved populations of intermediate wheatgrass that are currently being evaluated and further selected at The Land and by collaborators in diverse environments.

• The breeding program is currently focused on selecting for a number of traits including yield, shatter resistance, free threshing ability, seed size, and grain quality.
• In the next 10 years, we aim to have the crop increase seed size to 50% of annual bread wheat seed size from the current 25%.
• Our long-term goals include developing varieties that resist lodging (falling over) and have improved bread baking quality.
• Experiments are also underway to pair Kernza® with legumes in inter-cropped arrangements that achieve greater ecological intensification, and to utilize Kernza® as a dual purpose forage and grain crop in diverse farming operations.
• Eventually, our goal is for Kernza® to have yields similar to annual wheat and be widely grown throughout the northern United States and in several other countries around the world.

Domestic

• Cornell University Ithaca, New York
• Hudson Alpha Institute for Biotechnology Huntsville, Alabama
• Kansas State University Manhattan, Kansas
• Michigan State University East Lansing, Michigan
• The Ohio State University Columbus, Ohio
• University of Minnesota, St. Paul, Minnesota
• University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin
• Utah State University Logan, Utah

Global

• ISARA Lyon, France
• Liege University Gembloux, Belgium
• Lund University Lund, Sweden
• Namik Kemal University, Turkey
• Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala, Sweden
• University of Manitoba Winnipeg, Canada

The Land Institute developed the registered trademark for Kernza® grain to help identify intermediate wheatgrass grain that is certified as a perennial using the most advanced types of T. intermedium seed.

When you buy Kernza® perennial grain, you can be certain that you’re eating product grown on a perennial field that is building soil health, helping retain clean water, sequestering carbon, and enhancing wildlife habitat.

Starting with hobbyist bakers on staff at The Land Institute, Kernza® has been tested in kitchens across the country for over a decade. Innovative chefs, bakers, brewers, distillers, researchers, and growers are now using Kernza® in place of or combined with wheat or other grains.

Our friends Karen Leibowitz and Anthony Myint were some of the first prolific users of Kernza® perennial grain at their former restaurant The Perennial in San Francisco. Their pioneering efforts resulted in some of the most innovative Kernza® recipes we have ever tasted. Today, their tireless work in showing all of us that delicious food and the people and stories behind it can be a solution to climate change continues through their new venture Zero Foodprint.

For more on how to get Kernza® seed, grain or products, visit: Kernza.org

Kernza® can be used in baked goods and is now being sold in a number of restaurants. Many others have tested it in their products and kitchens. Although current strains of Kernza® grain are lower in gluten strength than annual wheat, consumers sensitive to gluten should exercise caution.

At this point, Kernza® is most frequently blended with annual wheat flour to make bread, and can make up 100% of the flour in quick breads (muffins, pancakes, etc.) or served as a pilaf like rice, as well as in beer products.

To see what Kernza® products are currently available from food producers, click here and select the “Products on the Market” tab.

For more on how to get Kernza® seed, grain or products, visit: Kernza.org