• Advertise
  • Contact Us
  • About Us
  • Supplier Directory
  • SCB YouTube
  • Login
  • Subscribe
  • Logout
  • My Profile
  • LOGISTICS
    • Air Cargo
    • All Logistics
    • Express/Small Shipments
    • Facility Location Planning
    • Freight Forwarding/Customs Brokerage
    • Global Gateways
    • Global Logistics
    • Last Mile Delivery
    • Logistics Outsourcing
    • LTL/Truckload Services
    • Ocean Transportation
    • Rail & Intermodal
    • Reverse Logistics
    • Service Parts Management
    • Transportation & Distribution
  • TECHNOLOGY
    • All Technology
    • Artificial Intelligence
    • Cloud & On-Demand Systems
    • Data Management (Big Data/IoT/Blockchain)
    • ERP & Enterprise Systems
    • Forecasting & Demand Planning
    • Global Trade Management
    • Inventory Planning/ Optimization
    • Product Lifecycle Management
    • Sales & Operations Planning
    • SC Finance & Revenue Management
    • SC Planning & Optimization
    • Sourcing/Procurement/SRM
    • Supply Chain Visibility
    • Transportation Management
  • GENERAL SCM
    • Business Strategy Alignment
    • Education & Professional Development
    • Global Supply Chain Management
    • Global Trade & Economics
    • HR & Labor Management
    • Quality & Metrics
    • Regulation & Compliance
    • SC Security & Risk Mgmt
    • Supply Chains in Crisis
    • Sustainability & Corporate Social Responsibility
  • WAREHOUSING
    • All Warehouse Services
    • Conveyors & Sortation
    • Lift Trucks & AGVs
    • Order Fulfillment
    • Packaging
    • RFID, Barcode, Mobility & Voice
    • Robotics
    • Warehouse Management Systems
  • INDUSTRIES
    • Aerospace & Defense
    • Apparel
    • Automotive
    • Chemicals & Energy
    • Consumer Packaged Goods
    • E-Commerce/Omni-Channel
    • Food & Beverage
    • Healthcare
    • High-Tech/Electronics
    • Industrial Manufacturing
    • Pharmaceutical/Biotech
    • Retail
  • THINK TANK
  • WEBINARS
    • On-Demand Webinars
    • Upcoming Webinars
  • PODCASTS
  • VIDEOS
  • WHITEPAPERS
Home » Global Agriculture Has a Planting Problem

Global Agriculture Has a Planting Problem

Global Agriculture Has a Planting Problem
February 12, 2020
Bloomberg

Climate-friendly crops are getting more attention from farmers and food companies as pressure mounts to find sustainable forms of agriculture. Enter Kernza, a new grain that’s already got powerful backers like General Mills Inc. and the support of academia.

Kernza is a wheat-like grain that can be used in breads, cereals, or even served as a pilaf like rice. It’s also a perennial crop, which means it can be seeded once and then grown for multiple years. It helps the environment by sequestering carbon in the soil through its deep root system and requires fewer chemical inputs.

The tell-tale sign for Kernza’s green benefits is underneath the ground. To the uninitiated, dirt is dirt. But farmers can tell you of countless varieties, from stuff that’s red and clay-like, to arid, dry and sandy. Then there’s what you get when you dig up some natural prairie — dark, rich and velvety, the soil that dreams are made of. When Minnesota farmer Carmen Fernholz tore up a test crop of Kernza after seven growing seasons, that’s exactly what he saw.

“It was just lush — the quality, the structure, everything was beautiful,” Fernholz said.

Why does nice dirt matter? Because it means a lot less synthetic fertilizer going into the ground, reducing the chances for chemical run off and restoring the soil’s natural organic matter. Think of the “dead zone” for marine life in the Gulf of Mexico, caused partly by fertilizer runoff from U.S. agriculture.

The rich soil reflects Kernza’s deep root system, which is able to form because the crop is sown just once every five years or so. That’s in contrast to major staples like corn and wheat, annual crops that are replanted every season and contribute to soil erosion, nutrient depletion and other environmental issues.

The University of Minnesota has been working with scientists from a non-profit group in Kansas called the Land Institute to develop Kernza, which is being domesticated from a wild, perennial wheatgrass. The university is releasing its first commercial Kernza seeds to U.S. farmers this summer, funded in part by General Mills.

For Fred Iutzi, president of the Land Institute, the work is helping to fix a problem that started about 10,000 years ago at agriculture’s dawn.

“We got off in the wrong direction by basing farming on annual crops,” Iutzi said. “Agriculture can really only be sustainable and only maintain soil over a very long term under perennials.”

There are other perennials in the works, such as a rice variety that’s growing on thousands of acres in southern China. These crops also offer benefits to farmers, who save on seed. Fuel costs are also lower, with planting equipment needed only every five years. During the growing season, Kernza fields can also be reused multiple times: In the spring and fall, livestock can graze on green shoots. The crop can also provide straw for forage.

Kernza is still in development stages. More work needs to be done to help increase yields, which would allow it to compete in large-scale commercial production. That could still be 10 years away. But companies like General Mills are ready to get in on early stages. The food maker is using the crop, which has a sweet, nutty flavor, in a limited edition cereal called Honey Toasted Kernza.

“It tastes great,” said Tom Rabaey, a senior agronomist for General Mills. “This crop, if you can get it to produce grain at economic levels, could provide a lot of environmental benefits.”

RELATED CONTENT

RELATED VIDEOS

Sustainability & Corporate Social Responsibility Food & Beverage
KEYWORDS Food & Beverage Sustainability & Corporate Social Responsibility
  • Related Articles

    Supply Chain Has a Labor Abuse Problem

    U.S. Shale Has a Panama Canal Problem That Has No Easy Fix

    The Chip Industry Has a Problem With Its Giant Carbon Footprint

Bloomberg

Global Oil Trade Shakes Up After Fires at U.S. Fuelmakers

More from this author

Wake up to live
“Supply Chains in Crisis”
updates and the latest Supply Chain News!

Subscribe to our Daily Newsletter

Timely, incisive articles delivered directly to your inbox.

Popular Stories

  • INTERIOR OF A CHICKEN FARM, WITH WHITE CHICKENS AS FAR AS THE EYE CAN SEE

    Worst Avian Flu in U.S. History Is Hitting Poultry

    Food & Beverage
  • TWO FINGERS MANIPULATE WOODEN LETTER BLOCKS TO TURN FROM SHOWING THE WORD RECOVERY TO RESILIENCE

    Five Challenges to Supply Chain Resilience in 2023

    Supply Chain Visibility
  • A PERSON HOLDS UP A TABLET COMPUTER IN A WAREHOUSE, SUPER-IMPOSED BY A GRAPHIC SHOWING A COMPLEX WEB OF SUPPLY CHAIN ELEMENTS

    Three Post-Pandemic Actions for Repairing Global Supply Chains

    Data Management (Big Data/IoT/Blockchain)
  • A MAN IN A SUIT SHAKES HANDS WITH A WOMAN IN A HARD HAT, NEXT TO A STACK OF CONTAINERS

    Three Procurement Technology Evolutions for 2023

    Sourcing/Procurement/SRM
  • The blank stare of a child's eye who is standing behind what appears to be a wooden frame

    The Alarming Continued Rise of Modern Slavery in Supply Chains: How Procurement Can Help Reverse the Trend

    Sourcing/Procurement/SRM

Digital Edition

Scb nov 2022 sm

2022 Supply Chain Innovator of the Year

VIEW THE LATEST ISSUE

Case Studies

  • New Revenue for Cloud-Based TMS that Embeds Orderful’s Modern EDI Platform

  • Convenience Store Client Maximizes Profit and Improves Customer Service

  • A Digitally Native Footwear Brand Finds Rapid Fulfillment

  • Expanding Apparel Brand Scales Seamlessly with E-Commerce Technology

  • How a Global LSP Scaled its Security Program and Won More Business

Visit Our Sponsors

Orderful Yang Ming Alithya
Barcoding Blue Yonder BNSF Logistics
CoEnterprise Data Capture Deposco
E2open GAINSystems Generix
Geodis GEP GreyOrange
Here Honeywell Intelligrated IFM
Infor Inmar Keelvar
Kinaxis Korber Lean Solutions Group 2H
Liberty SBF Locus Robotics Logility
LogistiVIEW Lucas Systems MCA Connect
MPO Nvidia Old Dominion
OpenText ORTEC Overhaul
Parsyl PMMI QIMA
Redwood Logistics Ryder E-commerce by Whiplash Saddle Creek Logistics
Schneider Dedicated Setlog Holding AG Ship4WD
Shipwell Tecsys TGW Systems
Thomson Reuters Tive Trailer Bridge
Vecna Robotics Verity
Verusen
  • More From SCB
    • Featured Content
    • Video Library
    • Think Tank Blog
    • SupplyChainBrain Podcast
    • Whitepapers
    • On-Demand Webinars
    • Upcoming Webinars
  • Digital Offerings
    • Digital Issue
    • Subscribe
    • Manage Your Subscription
    • Newsletters
  • Resources
    • Events Calendar
    • SCB's Great Supply Chain Partners
    • Supplier Directory
    • Case Study Showcase
    • Supply Chain Innovation Awards
    • 100 Great Partners Form
  • SCB Corporate
    • Advertise on SCB.COM
    • About Us
    • Privacy Policy
    • Contact Us
    • Data Sharing Opt-Out

All content copyright ©2023 Keller International Publishing Corp All rights reserved. No reproduction, transmission or display is permitted without the written permissions of Keller International Publishing Corp

Design, CMS, Hosting & Web Development :: ePublishing