KERNZA®

Category: Research Roundup

“Putting Down Roots” Report Details Economic and Environmental Benefits of Continuous Living Cover Crops

Research Roundup

(Photo by Dodd Demas for Friends of the Mississippi River) A comprehensive new report titled “Putting Down Roots,” produced by Ecotone Analytics, Friends of the Mississippi River, and the Forever Green Partnership, lays out a realistic path to cleaner waters and more profitable farms through the use of continuous living cover crops such as Kernza. … Continue reading “Putting Down Roots” Report Details Economic and Environmental Benefits of Continuous Living Cover Crops

Kernza® as a Climate Adaptation Tool in the Arid West

Research Roundup

Research efforts from the USDA’s Western SARE (Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education) in eastern Wyoming looked at the potential for Kernza® to serve as a future alternative to wheat production, help growers adapt to drought conditions, improve soil health, and sequester carbon in non-irrigated fields in the arid West, where water scarcity and land degradation … Continue reading Kernza® as a Climate Adaptation Tool in the Arid West

Kernza® Baking Quality Analysis

Recipe Roundup, Research Roundup

Click here to see a baking quality analysis on Kernza® grain. This analysis was conducted by Linda Dykes, Ph.D, a Food Technologist at the United States Department of Agriculture.   Linda Dykes, Ph.D. Food Technologist United States Department of Agriculture Research, Education, and Economics Mission Area Agricultural Research Service Edward T. Schafer Agricultural Research Center … Continue reading Kernza® Baking Quality Analysis

Kernza® Perennial Grain: Early Commercialization Timeline

Research Roundup

Kernza® Perennial Grain: Early Commercialization Timeline This timeline details the key events and partnerships of early Kernza® perennial grain commercialization. It begins with Kernza’s entry into the market and includes events up to 2020. Click here to see the timeline!

2021 Kernza<sup>®</sup> Call Series Rundown

Event, Kernza® at work, Research Roundup

2021 Kernza® Call series rundown By Colin Cureton, Commercialization Team, UMN Forever Green Partnership A recent call series in February of 2021 for Kernza® Perennial grain stakeholders in the Upper Midwest covered a lot of ground in sharing the current state of Kernza® research, commercial activity, and Kernza®’s future direction. The calls were hosted by … Continue reading 2021 Kernza® Call Series Rundown

Kernza® Market Research

Research Roundup

Kernza® is a unique perennial grain with a nascent supply chain. No large-scale market research study has focused on the demand for products made with perennial crops, which can create uncertainty for growers and makers alike. Throughout the past few months, however, The Land Institute conducted preliminary research on the market for Kernza®, focusing on … Continue reading Kernza® Market Research

Into The Weeds

Ecosystems Services, Research Roundup

A summary of the paper entitled Effective weed suppression in dual‐use intermediate wheatgrass systems By: Joe Zimbric In September of 2015 a small quarter acre section of the University of Wisconsin–Madison Arlington Agricultural Research Station was planted with a cycle 4 variety of Kernza® intermediate wheatgrass. At that time, the small planting represented the first … Continue reading Into The Weeds

Below the Surface: soil health and perenniality

Ecosystems Services, Research Roundup

August is a busy time for both The Land Institute and Kernza® growers. As interns shuffle from the fields to the threshing rooms, growers all around the country are at various phases of harvesting their Kernza® plots. Amidst the activity, we are revisiting research pertaining to perennial crops’ ecosystems services. In the paper summarized here, … Continue reading Below the Surface: soil health and perenniality

DON Update

Research Roundup

The fungus Fusarium graminearum can cause Fusarium head blight and produce DON toxin in Kernza® if favorable conditions (75-85oF with high moisture/humidity) occur during pollination and grain fill. The Land Institute conducted a small study in 2019 to test the effect of lodging and swathing on DON toxin levels. There was no effect of swathing … Continue reading DON Update

Carbon and water relations in perennial Kernza<sup>®</sup>

Ecosystems Services, Research Roundup

Perennial crops, like Kernza® varieties of intermediate wheatgrass, have been proposed as a more sustainable alternative to annual crops, because they have extended growing seasons, continuous ground cover, reduced nutrient leakage, and sequester more carbon in the soils than annual crops. In a recently published Plant Science paper, researchers dive deeper into the water and … Continue reading Carbon and water relations in perennial Kernza®