by Ben Nuelle
LISTEN: money-matters-11-15-16
Planting corn year after year is no question for most Iowa farmers because of the low financial risk it provides.
One man says it?s time to look beyond next year.
Fred Iutzi is president of The Land Institute in Salina, Kansas.
He says he envisions the future of grain crops functioning like perennial forage species.
One of those is Kernza, a type of wheatgrass.
?We?re getting enough yield we can harvest it from a combine. There is starting to be interest from companies producing specialty food products and taking it to commercialization. At this point, we are working steadily on getting to the point Kernza can fill some of the same role as wheat does in the food and feed system in future years.?
Iutzi says it?s already being used in multiple products. Including bread and beer.
He spoke at the 16th Iowa Organic Conference in Iowa City Monday.
