A 109-year-old downtown brick building renovated with farming and fellowship in mind, also fits when featured topics include Kernza® beer and regenerative agriculture.

The Farm & The Odd Fellows coffee cafe, brew pub and event center, will play host April 25 to “Beer Saves the World!,” an evening featuring the world’s first trademarked perennial grain. The short film is about beer’s key role in saving the planet as a part of Kernza® for Kansas 2.0: Wes Weekend.

“We love partnering with people who have big visions,” said Ashley Swisher, who co-owns The Farm with her husband, Keir Swisher.

They bought the deteriorating brick building, restored and remodeling it and opened in 2021 with “the purpose of planting and cultivating relationships,” Ashley said.

The Farm & Odd Fellows mission melds nicely, she said, with those of Wes Jackson, co-founder of The Land Institute. He stars in the “Prairie Prophecy” documentary premiering the following day, April 26, at the Stiefel Theatre for the Performing Arts in downtown Salina. Other events are (also) planned at The Land Institute and neighboring Heartland RIFT campus.

“We share the same vision, about protecting and planting for the future generations,” Ashley said. “It’s about thinking bigger than ourselves and our own lifetime.”

The Farm & The Odd Fellows is a great place to enjoy those ideals and continue to spread Kernza® news, said James Bowden, director of community engagement for Sustain-A-Grain, a Kernza® supplier, promoter and product developer.

The Swishers are big supporters of community development in central Kansas through investments in rural towns, agricultural ventures like no-till (farming practices) and perennial grain, Bowden said.

“They’re having a positive impact on the region,” he said. “Sustain-A-Grain has been thrilled to receive their unwavering support, and wants to recognize not only them, but our community of local supporters who have been critical to the integration of this Kansas-developed grain into our food system.”

Members of all of the participating institutions believe in Jackson’s general idea to return agriculture to sustainability with perennial grains and natural systems to feed the world, while improving and protecting the soil, using fewer chemicals, manmade fertilizers and releasing less carbon into the atmosphere.

The Farm & Odd Fellows doors open at 5 p.m. April 25. It’s located at 205 W. Second in Minneapolis.

“Beer Saves the World!” made by Perennial Films, will be shown first at 6 p.m., followed a question and answer session, featuring the executive producer Kelly Sallaway as well as Kansas leaders in the Kernza® space. A second showing of the film is at 8.

Sustain-A-Grain is offering a sampling of five different Kernza® beers made in Kansas — two from out of state — with speaker Brandon Miller, a certified cicerone and voice actor, whose company is based in Eugene, OR.

There is no admission, but joining in the beer tasting requires buying a ticket. The restaurant will also be open for business.

One of the featured Kernza® beers is “10-foot Roots,” made at The Farm & The Odd Fellows, by brewer Kyle Banman.

“He is an artist and passionate about beer and the science behind it,” Keir Swisher said. “We’re honored that Kyle got the opportunity to brew with Kernza®. It’s been great for us to connect with so many amazing people and show off Kyle’s brewing ability.”

Miller will walk his audience through the perennial crop’s role in the beer industry, sustainable agriculture, and explain “how Kernza®’s flavor complements different beer styles,” according to the promotion. He will offer four 30-minute demonstrations.

The Community Resilience Hub of Kansas Wesleyan University is offering free van rides to and from Salina and Minneapolis. Pickup sites will be announced. To secure a ride, email [email protected].

The Swishers share a love of family and farming.

Ashley grew up in Jewell County, where her parents Roger and Barbara Oplinger, were involved in sustainable agriculture.

“That’s healthy for us and for future generations at the same time,” Ashley Swisher said. “My dad loved the science of farming, He would grab dirt and watch the earthworms crawl on it. He firmly believed that he didn’t own the land — that he was just renting from God.”

Her mother was director of Kansas Ag in the Classroom, and also spent time as house mother of FarmHouse fraternity at Kansas State University-Manhattan.

Keir Swisher was raised in Lindsborg. His mom, L’Jean Swisher, was a farm girl. Keir helped his grandmother, Eleanor Burnison, at the family farm operation near Marquette.

Minneapolis worked perfectly for extended family, Ashley said, because “It’s halfway between our homes.”