Kernza -- North Dakota Just Keeps Getting Better -- Saving The Planet -- One Wheatfield At A Time -- September 8, 2019

This was originally posted three days ago, but due to a significant update, it is being re-posted:

Updates

September 8, 2019: in the linked story at the original post, Kernza was said to be a "wild relative of annual wheat," suggesting to me it was "wild." Now this, from agweek, August 26, 2019:

Kernza is a brand of forage grass called intermediate wheatgrass. It is is in the embryonic stages of development, with an intent toward commercialization, with uses including making bread, pasta and beer.

Kernza, a trademark name for a crop developed at Salina, Kan., by the Land Institute, a group founded in 1976 to develop perennial grains, pulses and oilseeds. The history goes back to the 1980s with the Rodale Institute in Pennsylvania. Kernza research and production has been tried from Kansas to Minnesota in the past several years.

From the linked article:

Kernza — a perennial grain crop that is under development in the Upper Great Plains — will be featured players in a field day, from 9 a.m. to noon, Sept. 26, at the Williston Research Extension Center. Clair Keene, an Extension specialist with the WREC is offering the North Dakota's first research field day on the crop. Keene started the first research site during fall 2018.

And then like the Bakken, the dreaded decline rate:

Keene says it's difficult to talk about yields because part of the raw weight is the hull. Fernholz says older varieties produce 200 to 500 pounds of seed per acre. That translates roughly up to 30 bushels per acre, Fernholz says. Kernza typically produces its best yields in its first three years of production and then production declines "significantly," Fernholz says.Older varieties are more vulnerable to shattering. Kernels are one-eighth to one-quarter the size of a spring wheat kernel. 

And again, we don't get the full story. How does that 30 bushels/acre of Kernza compare to current North Dakota wheat?

North Dakota wheat production averaged 47 bushels of wheat acre in 2019, down two bushels from2018. 

I assume when promoting something, there's a bit of hyperbole, suggesting that 30 bushels of Kernza/acre is on the high side and not the average, and it's in very, very controlled studies.
 

Original Post 

Kernza ...

Link here.

General Mills, Inc.’s Cascadian Farm subsidiary has set up a web site, www.DeeplyRootedForGood.com, for individuals interested in trying its Honey Toasted Kernza cereal.

The company said it has 6,000 boxes of the cereal available, with proceeds from the fundraiser going toward The Land Institute to further research on Kernza, a perennial grain that is a wild relative of annual wheat.

The decision to limit the cereal’s production run and launch the web site comes after Cascadian Farm in 2017 committed to developing a cereal or snack product made with Kernza due to its flavor profile and potential to positively impact the climate. Kernza is described as a sweet, nutty grain.

But the company soon encountered challenges. Maria Carolina Comings, marketing director for Cascadian Farm, pointed out in an April podcast that Kernza takes two years to grow. Over the past two years, the company encountered many factors that impacted the yield, and there were some issues after harvest that affected the available supply of organic Kernza.

According to Cascadian Farm there are 1,200 acres of Kernza perennial grain in production, and the yields are relatively small — about one-quarter that of annual wheat.

The North Dakota connection ...

Why does one get the feeling that this was a "commercial" disguised as a news story? I saw this all the time as editor of a college newspaper.