KernzaCON Showcases Perennial Crop

KernzaCON 2025 brought farmers, researchers, students, brewers and food industry leaders to Fargo in June to learn more about Kernza®, a perennial grass that can be harvested for grain. Hosted by North Dakota State University and The Kernza® Network, the conference featured presentations, poster sessions, tours of NDSU facilities and specialty crop processors, and receptions — including the launch of a Kernza-based lager by Drekker Brewing named “It’s From the Land, Man.”

Kernza® is the first commercially available perennial grain crop, derived from intermediate wheatgrass (Thinopyrum intermedium). Kernza® is a cool-season, perennial grass with a deep and fibrous root system. The breeding program at The Land Institute in Salina, Kansas, has been intensively selecting for grain-type traits for the past 15 years.

Clair Keene, NDSU Extension small grains agronomist and coordinator of the KernzaCON conference, has been researching Kernza’s potential in North Dakota cropping systems through field trials at the Williston Research Extension Center. Her current research at the NDAES main station focuses on evaluating the feasibility of companion cropping Kernza with annual small grains during Kernza establishment.