The Land Institute

Front cover of the new book "Living Roots: The Promise of Perennial Foods," co-edited by Liz Carlisle and Aubrey Streit Krug.

An illustration depicting a diverse perennial plant landscape featuring steep cliffs and flowing water

"Living Roots: The Promise of Perennial Foods" is out now! Co-edited by Aubrey Streit Krug and Liz Carlisle, this new book features scientists, farmers, chefs, Indigenous leaders, and more who are redefining agriculture. Read the press release: bit.ly/4clOkUb

Artwork by Emmy Lingscheit

Networks, integration, and community have been at the center of Kernza development. This figure shows how increasingly diverse stakeholder groups have and may continue to engage with Kernza over time.

Development and adoption of #Kernza—A perennial grain crop for sustainable #agriculture

Jessica L. Gutknecht, et al.

nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...

#PlantScience

And this one, which highlights what barriers this global research community is working to overcome to realize a perennial future: landinstitute.org/learn/is-the...

We highly recommend checking out this research paper from our global research network to read how recent advances in crop breeding and genetics can equip us to develop perennial grains: bit.ly/4pMl3Ww

Growers - Kernza® Interested in growing Kernza® Perennial Grain?

Thanks for your question! You can head over to kernza.org/growers/ to learn more about growing Kernza and read through our Kernza grower application to see if this could be a good fit for your farm.

"Perennial grains are uniquely capable of rebalancing the 'three-legged stool' of agricultural sustainability, where productivity, farm economics, and environmental impact must be in balance." Read the full article from
@theguardian.com ⬇️

“When I started working here in 2001, these ideas were regarded as very radical, even laughable. That is no longer true. Within a human generation, we could feed millions while repairing soils that took millennia to form." Read more from
@mountainogre.bsky.social in @theguardian.com

🌾 Big news for the Kernza® perennial grain market! General Mills is accelerating the Kernza market for U.S. organic farmers by quadrupling its use of the grain in four of its top-selling Cascadian Farm flake cereals.

Learn more about the impact of this work: bit.ly/48rJemX

An abstract background with an overlay of The Land Institute's logo and text reading, "Thank you."

We are grateful to share that our community reached—and even surpassed—our $60,000 Giving Tuesday goal. Your generosity makes space for research to deepen, collaborations to grow, and perennial futures to continue taking shape. Thank you for helping make this moment possible.

We’re starting Giving Tuesday at $47,765 toward our $60,000 goal, thanks to our generous community helping sustain global perennial agriculture research, education, & partnerships. Thank you for shaping what's possible as we build toward our 50th anniversary in 2026. Support today: bit.ly/4oblhFb

An image of The Land Institute's Lead Scientist in Perennial Sorghum, Pheonah Nabukalu, with a caption beneath reading "Growing toward our $60,000 community goal." Below this caption is a progress bar, showing that $46,385, or 77% of this goal, has been raised so far, with $13,615 to go to reach our Giving Tuesday goal by the end of tomorrow, December 2nd.

We’re entering Giving Tuesday with inspiring early support: our generous community has already contributed $46,385 toward our $60,000 goal. Your support continues to strengthen our global research in perennial agriculture. If you’d like to make a gift before tomorrow, you can do so at bit.ly/4oblhFb

Thanks to the generosity, trust, and care of this community, our $20,000 Giving Tuesday match has already been met—and exceeded. You can still support our new $60,000 goal to strengthen the research, education, and collaborations guiding our perennial work in the coming year: bit.ly/4oblhFb

Photo of The Land Institute's President, Rachel Stroer, speaking to a group at our campus headquarters in Salina, Kansas. Below the photo is a caption reading "Double your impact on Giving Tuesday."

Double your gift's impact between now and December 2, 2025, to strengthen perennial agriculture research, education, and partnerships! As Giving Tuesday approaches, we’re grateful to share that our Board of Directors will match donations up to $20,000: bit.ly/4oblhFb

By collaborating with participatory scientists across the US, sharing Kernza® curriculum with educators, and telling the story of people advancing perennial foods and food cultures, we are helping shape how communities centered around perennial grain crops can emerge. Learn more: bit.ly/4p2KHFA

Thank you for re-sharing our Kernza® in Context content! 🌱 We've also uploaded several new videos to our YouTube page related to this curriculum for those who are interested: www.youtube.com/channel/UCy9...

A photo of a Kernza® perennial grain maker holding a handful of flaked Kernza grain used for brewing. Below reads the caption: "Farmers, food industry professionals, ecologists, plant breeders, and more are building a future where perennial grains can help create a more resilient food production system."

A decorative image with The Land Institute's Aubrey Streit Krug, Director of the Perennial Cultures Lab, guiding visitors through the prairie that surrounds The Land Institute's campus in Salina, Kansas.

What once seemed improbable, even impossible, is now on the threshold: perennial grain crops grown and harvested, and a global community continuing to carry this work forward. Read how we are deepening this work in collaboration with supporters worldwide in our 2025 Harvest Letter: bit.ly/4p2KHFA

Quote from Aubrey Streit Krug, Director of the Perennial Cultures Lab: "Every day, I see how the perennial movement is taking root through advocates who can help restitch the fabric of life for generations to come."

Land Institute researchers harvesting perennial wheat from the field.

For nearly 50 years, The Land Institute has been developing perennial grain crops and food systems that work with nature, not against it. A global community is helping this work grow to restitch the fabric of life for generations to come.

Read our 2025 Harvest Letter to learn more: bit.ly/4p2KHFA

@thatecologist.bsky.social You can check out the Kernza® Carbon Planner tool to estimate the impact of Kernza on soil carbon based on location and management style: kernza.org/about-kernza...

Also, see here for more info on the environmental impact of Kernza at large: kernza.org/about-kernza...

Anna-Kristina Voss presenting her work on ecosystem modelling of perennial crops

Veronika Widengren presenting her work on eddy covarience measurements at both perennial and annual cropping systems

Tim Crews sharing his, and The Land Institute's, extensive knowledge and experience on perennial crops

Inspiring presentations today at our annual Perennial workshop! Huge thanks to our PhD students Veronika and Anna for sharing their research, and to Kernza experts Tim and Doug for their deep insights into perennial grain agriculture.
@beccsweden.bsky.social
@thelandinstitute.bsky.social