Sustainable practices | Shepherd’s Grain says healthy soil makes more nutritious flour but some scientists are skeptical
If it’s hot and dry, wheat protein will be high. If it’s wet and cool, fungus and other diseases will compromise wheat quality.
While weather has a major influence on grain quality, a farmer co-operative in the U.S. Pacific Northwest says another factor is also im-portant.
Shepherd’s Grain is marketing its wheat based on superior soil health. In other words, it says its wheat is better because it’s grown from healthier soil.
More than 60 growers in Washington state, Montana, Alberta and Oregon grow wheat and durum for Shepherd’s Grain. A mill in the region converts the wheat into flour, which is sold to bakers, restaurants and other businesses in Portland, Seattle and California.
Read Also
Rural Manitoba resources slim on natural disaster planning
A study from Brandon University’s Rural Development Institute has found that many rural and small municipalities don’t have the staff or resources to make formal climate plans against natural disaster.
The co-op has a sustainable economic policy. Growers are paid prices higher than the cost of production to ensure a reasonable rate of return.
Shepherd’s Grain producers ad-here to conservation agriculture practices, such as minimal tillage and diverse rotations, with the goal of fostering soil health.
Many companies are now touting their sustainable agriculture credentials in an effort to connect with savvy consumers, but Shepherd’s Grain is taking it a step further. The co-op claims its flour is more nourishing than regular flour.
Mike Moran, Shepherd’s Grain manager, said the science isn’t settled, but research and anecdotal evidence indicate that wheat grown in no-till soil is more wholesome than ordinary wheat.
“There are a lot of indications that there is something qualitatively different about the end product that comes from a no-till, (diverse) rotation system … than a traditional conventional system,” said Moran, who became manager of Shepherd’s Grain this spring when Washington state farmer Karl Kupers stepped down as company leader.
Kupers founded Shepherd’s Grain more than a decade ago with fellow farmer Fred Fleming to capitalize on consumer interest in sustainable agriculture.
Starting out with 5,000 bushels of wheat in its first year, the organization has grown immensely. It will mill 600,000 bu. this year.
Moran said Shepherd’s Grain has been successful because it offers full traceability so that customers know where and how the wheat is grown.
“We’re identity preserved and traceable. We can provide information about the farms that (help produce) any given bag of flour.”
That strategy, along with third-party sustainability verification, has been at the core of the Shepherd’s Grain business model.
However, Moran said the message that sustainable farm practices result in healthier food might be a significant marketing opportunity.
“How your food is grown affects how good it is for you. I think a lot of people who select organic are really selecting it on that principle,” he said.
“What we’re hoping to demonstrate is that the method of agriculture, in a no-till, conservation system, has a direct correlation to nutritional (composition) of the product that is grown…. (But) I don’t think we’re there yet, that I can say with scientific evidence that it’s true.”
Jill Clapperton, a soil consultant and former Agriculture Canada research scientist in Lethbridge, said there isn’t an abundance of research linking enhanced soil health to more nutritious food. However, the science is coming.
“If we’re doing things right and we’re measuring some soil health indicators, are we actually seeing more protein in the grain, for example? Are we seeing more micronutrients in the grain? That’s (the) data that we’re seeing now. It’s coming out,” Clapperton said at the World Congress of Conservation Agriculture in Winnipeg in June.
“It’s really new that we’re making that link.”
To support its claim, Shepherd’s Grain is sponsoring the work of a PhD student at Washington State University, who is reviewing the scientific literature on soil health and nutritional properties of food.
“We don’t have the results of that yet,” Moran said.
However, anecdotal evidence does support the correlation between healthy soil and wholesome food, he added.
For example, the milling company that turns Shepherd’s Grain wheat into flour believes the wheat is superior.
“The quality assurance manager at the mill told us our wheat has a consistently higher 1,000 kernel weight than any other wheat they bring into the mill,” Moran said.
Kristine Nichols, chief scientist at the Rodale Institute, an organic research centre in Pennsylvania, said the science of soil and nutrition remains in the early stages. Nonetheless, the basic premise makes sense.
“We’re recognizing more of the complex bio-molecules that are important in the soil and how that can get translated into the food products and into our bodies,” she said.
“As we’re looking at different types of health issues, we’re recognizing the role of micro-nutrients and other bio-molecules … for human health.”
John Reganold, professor of soil science and agro-ecology at Washington State, conducted a study on strawberries grown in California.
The research demonstrated that organic berries had healthier soil, and the berries had higher levels of antioxidants and phenolic compounds.
Reganold said that doesn’t prove the link, but there may be a relationship.
“In general you might say, healthier soil and you have healthier strawberries,” he said. “Does that hold true for all crops? Probably not, but I don’t know.”
Rick Haney, a U.S. Department of Agriculture soil scientist in Texas, remains skeptical. He’s not convinced there is a connection.
“(The research) is spotty. I don’t see how it’s wrong … (but) that’s going to be a hard one to prove,” said Haney, who developed a test to measure biological activity and the total nitrogen available in a soil.
“(But) there’s a lot we don’t know. If you take a soil and just plow the crap out of it, do nothing but chemically farm it … intuitively you would think that might not be as good as a natural system…. If they ever prove this high density food is better, then there’s going to be a premium.”
The science may not be settled, but Shepherd’s Grain is planning to expand its brand and its business.
Moran said they intend to sell flax, canola, barley, sunflowers and other products under the Shepherd’s Grain banner because the co-op’s farmers are already growing those crops.
“Because part of their system is maintaining a diverse rotation, we’re planning within the next 12 to 18 months to begin marketing (those crops)… with identify preservation,” he said.
