A perennial wheatgrass thought to be better for soil health is getting commercial backing from organic food maker Cascadian Farm and its parent company General Mills.
Cascadian Farm announced Tuesday a partnership with the Land Institute to help commercialize production of intermediate wheatgrass trademarked as Kernza, a wild relative of annual wheat.
Kernza has a much deeper root system than common wheat. It has been shown to increase soil health, water retention, carbon capture and improve wildlife habitat surrounding its crop lands.
"The length, size and long life of the roots enable the grain to provide measurable soil health benefits and drought resistance while preventing soil erosion and storing critical nutrients — potentially turning agriculture into a soil-forming ecosystem," said Dr. Lee DeHaan, lead scientist at the Land Institute, in a statement.
General Mills is promising to buy an undisclosed amount of Kernza from the Land Institute to use in Cascadian Farm, a line of organic cereals and other products it has owned since 2000.
Kernza has been commercially available in some niche markets, but it has so far lacked the support of a major company to assure farmers that there is a market for it.
"This is meant to stimulate the market," said Jerry Lynch, chief sustainability officer for General Mills. "We have farmers we have contracted with and, once we see how big the harvest is next fall, we can get a sense of our scale."
The grain is sweet and nutty in flavor, lending itself to cereals and snacks. Still, the taste is different from that of common wheat, so General Mills will be testing consumer acceptance.
