Farms following soil-friendly practices grow healthier food, study
suggests

Date:
February 24, 2022
Source:
University of Washington
Summary:
An experiment conducted on 10 farms across the U.S. suggests
that crops from farms following soil-friendly practices for at
least five years have a healthier nutritional profile than the
same crops grown on neighboring, conventional farms. Researchers
believe soil microbes and fungi boost certain beneficial minerals,
vitamins and phytochemicals in the crops.



FULL STORY ========================================================================== Everyone knows eating fruits and vegetables is good for your
health. But these days, stores offer a dizzying array of options:
organic, conventional, CSAs, local agriculture. Which ones are best for
your health?

==========================================================================
A new study, published in January in the journal PeerJ, looks at
how regenerative farming practices -- soil-building techniques that
minimize plowing, use cover crops, and plant diverse crops -- affect
the nutritional content of the food.

Results of the preliminary experiment, which included 10 farms across the
U.S., show that the crops from farms following soil-friendly practices
for at least five years had a healthier nutritional profile than the same
crops grown on neighboring, conventional farms. Results showed a boost in certain minerals, vitamins and phytochemicals that benefit human health.

"We couldn't find studies that related directly to how the health of the
soil affects what gets into crops," said lead author David Montgomery,
a UW professor of Earth and space sciences. "So we did the experiment
that we wished was out there." Montgomery designed the study during
research for his upcoming book, "What Your Food Ate," due out in June. His spouse, Anne Bikle', is a biologist and co- author of the study and the upcoming book.

The authors collaborated with farmers using regenerative farming practices
to conduct an experiment. All the participating farms, mostly in the
Midwest and in the Eastern U.S., agreed to grow one acre of a test crop
-- peas, sorghum, corn or soybeans -- for comparison with the same crop
grown on a neighboring farm using conventional agriculture. Co-author Ray Archuleta, a retired soil conservation scientist with the U.S. Department
of Agriculture, visited all the farms and sampled their soil in summer
2019. Farmers then sent samples of their crops in for analysis.



==========================================================================
"The goal was to try to get some direct comparisons, where you controlled
for key variables: The crop is the same, the climate is the same, the
weather is the same because they're right next to each other, the soil
is the same in terms of soil type, but it's been farmed quite differently
for at least five years," Montgomery said.

The study sites included the farm and ranch of co-author Paul Brown. Brown
had met the UW researcher during Montgomery's work for the 2017 book,
"Growing a Revolution," which toured regenerative farms in the U.S. and overseas, including Brown's Ranch in North Dakota.

Results of the new study showed that the farms practicing regenerative agriculture had healthier soils, as measured by their organic matter,
or carbon, content and by a standard test.

"What we're seeing is that the regeneratively farmed soils had twice
as much carbon in their topsoil and a threefold increase in their soil
health score," Montgomery said.

Crop samples were analyzed at lab facilities at the UW, Oregon State
University and Iowa State University.



==========================================================================
The food grown under regenerative practices contained, on average,
more magnesium, calcium, potassium and zinc; more vitamins, including
B1, B12, C, E and K; and more phytochemicals, compounds not typically
tracked for food but that have been shown to reduce inflammation and
boost human health. Crops grown in the regenerative farms were also
lower in elements broadly detrimental to human health, including sodium, cadmium and nickel, compared with their conventionally grown neighbors.

"Across the board we found these regenerative practices imbue our crops
with more anti-inflammatory compounds and antioxidants," Montgomery said.

Organic farms avoid chemical pesticides but they can vary in their other farming practices, such as whether they have a diversity of crops or
till the soil to control weeds. Results from a previous review study,
published by Montgomery and Bikle' in the fall, show organic crops also generally have higher levels of beneficial phytochemicals than crops
grown on conventional farms.

The researchers believe the key lies in the biology of the soil --
the microbes and fungi that are part of the soil ecosystem -- as these organisms directly and indirectly help boost beneficial compounds
in crops.

"The biology of the soil was really the part that got overlooked in moving
to chemistry-intensive farming," Montgomery said. "It may be that one of
our biggest levers for trying to combat the modern public health epidemic
of chronic diseases is to rethink our diet, and not just what we eat,
but how we grow it." The study also included cabbage grown on a no-till
farm in California and a single wheat farm in northern Oregon that was comparing its own conventional and regenerative farming practices and
provided both samples. The study included meat from a single producer,
Brown's Ranch; the beef and pork raised on regenerative agriculture feed
was higher in omega-3 fatty acids than meat from a conventional feedlot.

"The biggest criticism I would have of this study is small sample size
- - that's why the paper's title includes the word 'preliminary,'"
Montgomery said. "I'd like to see a lot more studies start quantifying:
How do differences in soil health affect the quality of crops that
come from that land?" The other co-author is Jazmin Jordan of Brown's
Ranch. The study was funded by the Dillon Family Foundation.

========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by University_of_Washington. Original
written by Hannah Hickey. Note: Content may be edited for style and
length.


========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. David R. Montgomery, Anne Bikle', Ray Archuleta, Paul Brown, Jazmin
Jordan. Soil health and nutrient density: preliminary comparison
of regenerative and conventional farming. PeerJ, 2022; 10: e12848
DOI: 10.7717/peerj.12848 ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/02/220224125209.htm

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