WHAT IS KERNZA®?
Back to the roots
Kernza® is our hero ingredient. It’s a cereal relative to wheat, but perennial. This means that it grows year over year, without dying at the end of the season. This helps recover soil, prevent erosion and degradations, less use of inputs, and sequester more C02!
Kernza® grain is harvested from intermediate wheatgrass (Thinopyrum intermedium). This cousin of annual wheat has been grown throughout the USA to provide fodder for livestock. It was domesticated by The Land Institute in the US, as a grain for human food.
Learn more at www.kernza.org
Why is Kernza® Important?
- Environmental Stewardship: Kernza’s deep roots help to prevent soil erosion, enhance soil health, and even capture carbon from the atmosphere, making it a champion in the fight against climate change.
- Water Conservation: By thriving with less water and reducing nutrient runoff, Kernza® contributes to cleaner, more sustainable water systems.
- Biodiversity Boost: Kernza® fields provide a habitat for a myriad of wildlife, fostering a healthier ecosystem.
- Double-use crop: It can be used as forage and for human food production.
Soil Health
Regenerative
agriculture
Perennial grain
Why
perennials?
Our current extensive and intensive agricultural practices, which predominantly rely on single-crop monocultures, pose a significant risk to the essential environmental and social systems we rely on. The introduction and adoption of perennial grain crops offer a powerful and revolutionary solution. These grains can not only provide sufficient food for humanity but also significantly mitigate the negative impacts associated with the disruptions and dependencies created by industrial-scale agriculture.
