Four years ago, a researcher at the University of Wyoming’s Washakie County Extension office set out to see whether ancient grains could grow well in the state.

As part of the Wyoming First Grains Projects UW extension coordinator Caitlin Youngquist worked with farmers and UW research stations to grow emmer and spelt. Those are ancestors of modern wheat. Emmer dates back 17,000 years and spelt dates back 7,000 years.

Youngquist said the idea was to see whether an alternate grain crop might have better returns than malt barley or commodity wheat. She said they found that these grains have high potential in the state.

“They do require some additional steps in terms of dehulling and processing. That adds some additional cost potential to the consumer at the end,” said Youngquist. “We found that in irrigated production, these grains require less irrigation so they're more water efficient, which could be a benefit in areas that maybe you're limited in irrigation water.”

Youngquist said while the growing research is done, the university is still working on developing a market in the state and nation for these grains.