The premiere of a documentary feature film will highlight a weekend of events planned to celebrate the development of a perennial grain with the potential to change the way we farm. Such a grain — Kernza — and the man who guided its development — Kansas Wesleyan University grad Dr. Wes Jackson — will be celebrated this Friday and Saturday.
Activities will start Friday with tours at the Heartland RIFT farms and The Land Institute at 10 a.m. and 1 p.m.
According to KWU, the Heartland RIFT program is the Rodale Institute Farmer Training course, offered by the college’s Community Resilience Hub (CRH) and the Rodale Institute. Participants work at two properties learning all aspects of regenerative agriculture principles and practices. Reserve your spot for the RIFT campus tour and lunch by sending an email to [email protected].
CRH will provide a lunch from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at the RIFT classroom, next to The Land Institute.
The Land Institute, under Jackson’s guidance, was instrumental in developing Kernza, a perennial grain used much like wheat. The tours are free, but registration for them, the lunch and for a spring plant identification walk at 3 p.m. are required.
Friday evening will feature a dinner, beer-tasting and short film at The Farm and Odd Fellows in Minneapolis. The award-winning documentary “Beer Saves the World” will be screened at 5:30, 7, 7:45 and 8 p.m.
There is a charge for the beer-tasting, which will feature Kansas craft beers made from Kernza. Dinners will be available from a select menu.
CRH is providing vans for transportation to and from Minneapolis. Register for the free rides at [email protected].
The weekend will conclude Saturday with the world premiere of “Prairie Prophecy,” a feature-length documentary about Jackson, a KWU professor emeritus, and a co-founder of The Land Institute. The premiere at the Stiefel Theatre, includes a red carpet walk, starting at 5 p.m., and a question-and-answer session to follow the film, produced by Perennial Films.
To register for all the weekend events and to purchase tickets, go to www.prairieprophecy.com/.
