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BELOIT, Kan. — <\/span>Bryce Black kneels in a wheat field battered by intense drought. He holds two strands, remarking on how small the seed head is compared with what’s normal.<\/p>\n After a late October rain last year, the fourth-generation farmer was optimistic about his 1,800 acres (728 hectares) of winter wheat. But a dry winter and spring brought extreme drought<\/a> when the wheat needed moisture to establish itself. He ended up harvesting about 1,500 acres (607 hectares), but the yield was the lowest he’s had since taking over his family’s farm in 2017.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was just a grit your teeth and get through it type of deal,\u201d said Black, who also grows corn, soybeans and milo on his family\u2019s 4,500-acre (1,821 hectare) farm. \u201cIt is disheartening, you know? And it\u2019s kind of hard to know what to do.\u201d<\/p>\n When these weather events occur, farmers often look for new ways to protect their crops and their bottom line. <\/p>\n A small number are putting perennial grains in rotation to build resilience against extreme weather like drought and intense rainfall. Researchers are working to develop perennial versions of common annual grains like wheat, sorghum and rice, but the work is slow. And widespread adoption by farmers is challenging because perennial crops don\u2019t yield as much, harvesting can be difficult and the market is still developing.<\/p>\n Despite the challenges, Black is intrigued.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m in survival mode,\u201d he said. \u201cIf you can plant something and then you don\u2019t have to go back for four or five years \u2026 that would save so much money, so much labor, everything. That\u2019s what makes it enticing.\u201d <\/p>\n Five years ago, David Mueller planted a 12-acre (5 hectare) field of Kernza, a perennial grain similar to native grasses found in parts of Europe and western Asia.<\/p>\n Perennial grains don\u2019t require yearly planting, harvesting and replanting. Instead, they are planted once every few years. <\/p>\n Researchers say their root systems, which can reach several feet down, can access water deeper in the ground. That helps them better withstand short-term drought. And when heavy rain hits, the larger root structures can absorb excess water that would otherwise run off and erode the soil. Those deeper roots also sequester more carbon, reducing pollution in the atmosphere. <\/p>\n Kernza is one of several perennial grains under development at The Land Institute<\/a> in Salina, Kansas, about an hour\u2019s drive north of Mueller\u2019s farm. The institute, which formally began domesticating Kernza in 2001, works with researchers and farmers around the world to develop perennial versions of wheat, rice, sorghum and other grain and oil seeds.<\/p>\n Some farmers in Southeast Asia and parts of Africa have started planting and harvesting perennial rice in their fields. Kernza, though, is furthest along and was first harvested on a farm in 2010. <\/p>\n In the U.S. last year, Kernza was cultivated on 3,511 acres (1,421 hectares), compared with 37.2 million acres (15.1 million hectares) of winter, spring and Durum wheat harvested or planted in 2025-26.<\/p>\n Mueller’s Kernza field is one of almost 100 acres (40 hectares) he has planted since 2018. He’s used the crop to rebuild soil with drainage issues or to reestablish organic matter on his family’s farm in Halstead, Kansas, where they also farm about 600 acres (243 hectares) each of corn and soybeans.<\/p>\n He also said Kernza uses about a third of the fertilizer that wheat needs, and because it’s planted once every few years, he doesn’t have to run gas-burning farm equipment as often.<\/p>\n \u201cNot only are we able to utilize those acres profitably, but then we also build up that soil and work on some benefits to make it hopefully profitable to raise other crops on those fields in the future,\u201d Mueller said.<\/p>\n A 2024 United Nations report suggests that by 2050, soil degradation could cause more than $20 trillion in losses<\/a> to the global economy. Farming perennials is less disruptive to that carbon-capturing soil.<\/p>\n Soil serves as a reservoir, capturing planet-warming carbon dioxide from the atmosphere that plays a role in climate change, experts say. Annual cultivation \u2014 the plow, plant, harvest and repeat cycle \u2014 strains soil formation, which takes thousands of years and rapidly degrades the farmland. Perennial roots can also bring that carbon deeper into soils, where it is less likely to be disturbed, said Laura van der Pol, The Land Institute’s lead soil ecologist.<\/p>\n And soil that has more carbon in it tends to be better for plants. <\/p>\n \u201cIncorporating perennials into our agriculture seems like really the only option to have soil for generations if we want to continue to grow food,\u201d van der Pol said. \u201cIt\u2019s hard to imagine getting to a place where we could have soil and abundant food without a perennial option.\u201d<\/p>\n Pilot programs involving perennial grains are in the works around the world, testing how to grow them in different regions, climates and soils, but the research is early and slow-moving. <\/p>\n Chief among the challenges is the crops’ grain yield, said Lee DeHaan, who leads the Institute\u2019s Kernza domestication program. Kernza farmers are getting yields of about 20 to 40% of what they might get from a wheat crop in the area. That’s because a perennial crop has to use energy not only to grow seeds for grain, but also to grow roots to penetrate the soil so it can survive for more than a year. That contrasts with annual crops, which are engineered to put as much energy as possible into making as much seed as they can in one growing season.<\/p>\n Researchers at Cornell University also have found that establishing a Kernza field can be difficult as it contends with weeds in its first year. Finding the right seeding rate to maximize yield is also still being studied, said Matthew Ryan, a sustainable cropping professor at Cornell University.<\/p>\n Mueller said new varieties of Kernza are yielding more than previous ones, but the yield can decline as the crop ages. Yields on perennial rice are similar to annual ones, officials at The Land Institute said.<\/p>\n Harvesting Kernza specifically can be challenging. The grain is smaller than wheat, for example, and farmers and researchers are still finding the best ways to adapt farm equipment so the kernel isn’t damaged during harvest.<\/p>\n Still, Ryan said farmers who experience crop loss due to drought or major flooding may be prompted to think about ways to build more resilience into their operations.<\/p>\n \u201cI think farmers, more than other people, realize that the climate is changing,\u201d he said. \u201cThey prompt people to think, and I feel like they are driving farmers to practice this.\u201d<\/p>\n Even as perennial grain development steadily improves and more farmers sign on to grow it, there are still issues with consumer interest, federal support and research infrastructure.<\/p>\n Aaron Gaeddert, the owner of Prairy in Newton, Kansas, sells Kernza products and develops food products in his test kitchen. The grain has a sweeter flavor than wheat and can be found in products like baking mixes and beer. Building awareness is challenging, Gaeddert said, but he’s hopeful interest will grow as new products are developed.<\/p>\n \u201cWe still have customers that shop here all the time who don\u2019t know what Kernza is, and we\u2019ve had it on our shelves for three or four years,\u201d he said. \u201cI truly think that it\u2019s gonna take some bigger industry players to adopt a new grain like this.\u201d<\/p>\n And while farmers receive federal bridge payments and other assistance<\/a> for traditional crops amid market disruptions and increased production costs, federal funding for perennial grains is lacking. The value of a farmer’s land and the loans they can get to subsidize operations are directly connected to what they grow.<\/p>\n Brandon Schlautman, a perennial crop scientist and farmer at Sustain-a-Grain, a supplier and distributor of Kernza, said he constantly hears from farmers who want to grow it, but he turns away almost all of them because the market isn’t developed enough.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat farmers really need is access to the product or the grain itself,\u201d Schlautman said. \u201cAnd stable markets that allow them to grow Kernza and sell it profitably and sustainably.\u201d<\/p>\n Mueller contracts with Sustain-a-Grain, which sells him Kernza seed and buys back his crop at a fixed price. That guaranteed price means he doesn\u2019t have to worry as much about the risk of planting an alternative crop. Mueller agrees the market for Kernza is small, but that means farmers who grow it can be paid a premium, sometimes 5 to 10 times the price of a pound of wheat, he said.<\/p>\n Pricing the grain low enough to open up a larger market for consumers is the main challenge.<\/p>\n \u201cThe fact that it has the potential to be profitable as opposed to some other alternative crops, that was intriguing too,\u201d Mueller added. \u201cBecause at the end of the day, ideas are great, but you need to make money if you want to do this again next year.\u201d<\/p>\n ___<\/p>\n St. John reported from Detroit. Follow her on X: @alexa_stjohn<\/a>. Reach her at ast.john@ap.org<\/a>. Follow Joshua A. Bickel on Instagram<\/a>, Bluesky<\/a> and X<\/a> @joshuabickel. Reach him at jbickel@ap.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n ___<\/p>\n Read more of AP\u2019s climate coverage<\/a>.<\/p>\n ___<\/p>\n The Associated Press\u2019 climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP\u2019s standards<\/a> for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n