“I’m so heartened by the work that our farmers are doing, that our researchers are doing, to create these really sustainable crops--they’re actually regenerative crops--that are not only delicious on the plate, but really good for the land.” Beth Dooley shares the excitement for Minnesota perennial crops and Kernza that she, Jacob Jungers, and Peter and Anne Schwagerl all bring to today’s episode of Dirt Rich.
Research by a variety of stakeholders, including the Forever Green Initiative and University of Minnesota researcher Jacob Jungers has been focused on the economic and environmental impacts of perennials like alfalfa, hazelnuts, pennycress, and the intermediate wheatgrass Kernza®. They’ve found that fewer pesticides, herbicides, and fertilizers are needed to grow perennial crops, and farmers reap the economic benefits. Additionally, the deep root systems that perennials grow provide many ecosystem services: fixing nitrogen, building fertility. While Kernza doesn’t fix nitrogen, it takes it from deeper levels of the soil than annuals can reach, and reduces the leaching of nitrogen into groundwater.
Beginning farmers and SFA Western Chapter members Anne and Peter Schwagerl have certainly noticed those benefits on their farm so far. They have 40 acres of Kernza seeded on their organic farm this season. Says Peter, “it also offers a good way for us to tackle some of the very nitty gritty challenges that we face on a farm, particularly us as organic farmers. It really feeds a lot of needs for us from an agronomic standpoint.” They’re able to keep living roots in the soil, reduce tillage, improve pest and weed management, and break up soil compaction.
The Schwagerls intend to eventually incorporate that fifth principle of soil health, 'Integrating Livestock,' and graze the forage that Kernza provides as well. As Jacob Jungers explains, grazing Kernza results in four potential income streams for the crop: grazing forage in early May, harvesting the grain, using the leftover straw for bedding or rations, and grazing again in the late fall.
As markets expand for Kernza--just to name a couple examples: a Kernza grower co-operative is forming, and Dooley recently published a cookbook highlighting perennials--academic and farmer partnered research continues on quality, taste, measuring environmental factors, and increasing yields. The future of the crop seems to have great potential for connecting eaters to growers and land, tied in by the passion for great-tasting food and climate change mitigation.
Links:
July 8 Kernza Field Day
UMN Sustainable Cropping Lab
The Land Institute
Kernza CAP
Forever Green Initiative
Thoughts? Comments? Ideas? Drop us a line on our Virtual Comment Box.
Katie Feterl, SFA Communications Director
Jacob Jungers, Assistant Professor, Agronomy and Plant Genetics, University of Minnesota
Beth Dooley, Food Writer and Cookbook Author, Beth Dooley’s Kitchen
Peter & Anne Schwagerl, Prairie Point Farm, SFA Western Chapter members
The viewpoints of the speakers expressed within or outside of this episode do not necessarily reflect the goals and mission of SFA.
Dirt Rich is produced by the Sustainable Farming Association.
39: Building Relationships and Telling Your Story
Revisited: Planting Minnesota Garlic
38: Getting Water Quality Certified
37: Wisdom of the Prairie: Diversity, Connection, Community
36: Growing Grazing Dairy Farmers
35: Pastured Pork & an Incubator Farm
Revisited: Implementing Silvopasture
33: Growing a CSA from 8 to 80
32: A Chat with Gabe Brown
31: Managing Spring Grazing
30: Spring Break
29: From "Conventional" to Resilient
28: Saving Seed & Dancing Feet
27: Home on the Tree-Range
26: AMPed for Grazing!
25: Integrative Nutrition with Sara Keough
24: Restoring Oak Savanna
23: Oak Savanna Origins
22: Matchmaking for Livestock & Land
Create your
podcast in
minutes
It is Free
The No-Frills Teacher Podcast
Heal, Survive & Thrive!
Summarize | رادیو سامرایز
The Jordan B. Peterson Podcast
The Mel Robbins Podcast