What is Forever Green?
Perennial crops like Kernza, under development through the University of Minnesota Forever Green Initiative, hold promise for soil and water health, as well as farm profit. (Photo by Dodd Demas)
We know that getting to a healthy Mississippi River in Minnesota means growing more clean-water crops. These crops are great for water quality and soil health, and can also benefit wildlife and our climate by increasing the landscape’s resiliency in the face of extreme weather.
But we also know that farm operations won't make that switch unless these crops are profitable.
That’s where Forever Green comes in.
Forever Green Initiative: The next generation of crops
The Forever Green Initiative at the University of Minnesota is a crop development program whose researchers are developing perennial and annual crops that can weather the state’s cold winters, and provide a host of environmental and economic benefits.
These crops can reduce runoff pollution and other environmental impacts caused by our dominant annual cropping systems (such as corn and soybeans) while enhancing farm prosperity — all key goals of FMR’s Water Program.
At the moment, however, the farmers who grow these clean-water crops are relatively few and far between, and markets for them are still emerging. So how can we move Kernza from research fields to your grocery aisle, or camelina biofuel into your plane's fuel tank?
The Forever Green Partnership aims to show the way forward.
Moving forward as a coalition
The vision of the Forever Green Partnership is a network of farmers, agribusinesses, researchers and organizations like FMR pulling in unison for a fundamental shift in what we grow and how we grow it in Minnesota, the Upper Midwest, and eventually, the rest of the country.
It won't always be desirable or possible to replace leading commodity crops, but we need to diversify our landscape where it makes sense.
Rather than relying solely on dedicated farm conservation programs, which are perennially oversubscribed and underfunded, we and our partners support what we call "market-based continuous living cover." This approach is one where the crops themselves do the work of conservation — retaining nutrients, preventing erosion and even creating wildlife habitat — all while turning a profitable harvest.
As a network we're getting smarter together about these crops and practices by sharing information, convening gatherings and leading collaborative projects.
Friends of the Mississippi River has been one of the driving forces behind the partnership since its inception. We have successfully advocated for FGI funding and related projects in recent Minnesota state budgets, have helped to raise the profile of these issues in the environmental community and beyond, and are helping to set up the Forever Green Partnership apparatus.
Want to help?
Much work still lies ahead. One of FMR’s top priorities each legislative session is to secure full funding for Forever Green, which will give the partnership the resources it needs to thrive and enable our U of M partners to build on their groundbreaking research.
Check out our legislative blog to keep up with our progress and learn how you can help advocate for a more regenerative agricultural landscape in Minnesota.