USDA Funds $1 Million Perennial Wheat Study

Michigan State University researchers are using a $1 million federal grant to try to develop a form of wheat that doesn’t need planting each season.

The school says perennial wheat could bring big savings in money, time and labor to farmers.

The four-year study is being conducted at the university’s W.K. Kellogg Biological Station. It’s in Kalamazoo County’s Ross Township, about 50 miles west-southwest of the school’s main East Lansing campus.

Lead researcher Sieg Snapp says work in Kansas and Washington has laid the groundwork for her studies, which aims to develop perennial wheat varieties and management techniques.

Snapp says perennial wheat also could reduce erosion and retain soil moisture.