Perennial grain Archives - Manitoba Co-operator

A stand of kernza, a perennial distant relative of wheat.

How scientific minds changed toward perennial grains

Early boosters were voices on the fringe: Today, perennial crops are sought by researchers worldwide — including Manitoba

By Geralyn Wichers June 16, 2022

In the early days of kernza — a perennial grain crop related to wheat — plant breeders at The Land Institute in Kansas couldn’t get a government grant to save their lives. “We got very nice compliments on our writing of the grant proposals and harsh criticism on the value of actually doing the work,”

Plant breeder and researcher Doug Cattani was recently recognized by the province  for innovation in sustainability.

Crops, Faces of ag, Farmit Manitoba, Local news

Kernza plant breeder recognized

Faces of Ag: Doug Cattani has spent his career working on perennial grasses

By Geralyn Wichers November 4, 2019

And to think, he could have been an accountant. Plant breeder and researcher Doug Cattani received provincial recognition in October for his work in developing perennial grains. Since 2010, Cattani has worked with Kernza, the trade name for organically produced intermediate wheatgrass, which is being developed for grain production. As a perennial grain, Kernza causes

Scott Stothers (l to r), Loic Perrot, Tabitha Langel, and Doug Cattani with bread made from Kernza.

Cereals, Local news

Making bread — and maybe history too

The first loaves of bread made from Kernza have been gobbled up in Manitoba

By Laura Rance-Unger December 8, 2017

You won’t be buying Kernza bread in a Manitoba bakery or grocery store any time soon, but a small group of proponents see it as a sign of things to come. Guests at a small reception at the Tall Grass Prairie Bakery in downtown Winnipeg Nov. 23 were treated to loaves of freshly baked sourdough

Intermediate wheatgrass is the skinny cousin to spring wheat but, of course, you can’t graze the latter and then harvest a grain crop later.

Cereals, News

Perennial grain: It’s two crops in one

It’s been a decades’ long search, but researchers believe the finish line is in sight  for a crop that can be both grazed and then harvested for its grain

By Aaron Haugen August 17, 2016

As concerns grow over sustainability in modern farming, researchers are looking to the past in search of crops that can both meet the needs of farmers and consumers as well as the environment. Thinopyrum intermedium — commonly known as intermediate wheatgrass — is one of the fruits of that research. It’s been nearly three decades

Crop breeder Doug Cattani is working with a variety of potential perennial crops but says intermediate wheatgrass right now looks the most promising.

Crops, Local news

Perennial grain crops are one step closer

The goal is to find ways to grow food that will reduce the need  for fertilizers, herbicides, and annual seed purchase

By Lorraine Stevenson August 31, 2015

Seed it once, then sell everything except the combine and just keep harvesting year after year. It might not work out quite that way, but a perennial grain crop that can withstand cold Prairie winters is a little closer to reality for Canadian farmers. University of Manitoba perennial crop breeder Doug Cattani has been at

Daily Network News

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California researchers create nitrogen-fixing wheat

Tag Archives Perennial grain

How scientific minds changed toward perennial grains

Kernza plant breeder recognized

Making bread — and maybe history too

Perennial grain: It’s two crops in one

Perennial grain crops are one step closer

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