Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/1233627
farm406 26 the market. Kernza has been successfully used in making bread, pasta, and beer. Before producers start raising Kernza, they will want to know if an infrastructure leading to a market exists for this unusual grain. Besides improving Kernza, e Land Institute is developing a supply chain and leading the commercialization process for the grain. Already the outdoor gear company, Patagonia, has made two beers from Kernza called Long Root Ale and Long Root Wit. "I sold my 2018 crop for seed. I had to send the grain in totes to North Dakota where it was dehulled and cleaned. It will be easier once more farmers are raising Kernza, and an infrastructure is in place," said Engellant. " I sold the 2019 crop to Patagonia Provisions. In the future I plan to have a contract for it," Besides Patagonia, General Mills and several smaller operations are presently buying Kernza. Will Montana farmers be raising Kernza by 2035? Many concede that they have never heard of Kernza, but with the agricultural industry making so many dramatic changes, they agree that new crops aren't surprising, and they have become adaptive to change. Montana farmers will have an advantage. Engellant will be around to provide encouragement when the intermediate wheatgrass plants fail to emerge at the expected time. e Land Institute e Land Institute, a 501 (c) (3) non-profit organization based in Salina, Kansas, was founded in 1976 on 28 acres by Wes and Dana Jackson. rough a "genius" grant awarded by the McArthur Foundation, the couple was able to start e Land Institute that promotes "natural systems agriculture" through plant breeding and other programs. Today e Land Institute's work, led by a team of plant breeders and ecologists working with other collaborators in as many as 41 locations worldwide, is focused on developing perennial grains, pulses, and oilseed crops to be grown in ecologically intensified, diverse crop mixtures known as perennial polycultures. e Land Institute's goal is to create an agricultural system that mimics natural systems to produce ample food and to reduce or eliminate the negative impacts of industrial agriculture. Photo: Courtesy of e Land Institute The young plant of intermediate wheatgrass that produces Kernza® seed. Engellant examines 2019-grown Kernza® grain raised on the family farm near Geraldine.