New type of wheat draws pollutants from soil, water in Minnesota Kernza, which was developed in Kansas after decades of breeding, has roots that grow twice as long as the common annual wheats grown throughout the United States, and many times longer and thicker than the roots of corn and soybeans found on most of Minnesota's farmland. Written By: Greg Stanley / Star Tribune | 11:23 am, May 18, 2021 × University of Minnesota research professor Jacob Jungers checked the growth of Kernza at a field at the school’s St. Paul campus in 2019. Star Tribune / TNS MINNEAPOLIS -- The soil and water near some of the most polluted wells in Minnesota is almost entirely clean three years after a new type of wheat was planted on the surface.