(P02-044-23) Do Regenerative Soil Health Practices Improve Food Grade Oat Nutrient Density: A Pilot Study of Food Systems

Objectives: Links between soil health, food nutrition and human health are accepted, but difficult to study in real life conditions, with challenges of drought, weather conditions, and climate change. For this small pilot study, our hypothesis was that oats grown under a soil health management system will be more nutrient-dense and higher in polyphenol, antioxidant, and protein content. The goal was to ascertain objective measures via food grade oat nutrient density to support the subjective measures of soil health practices.

Methods: We assessed the impact of soil health parameters on oat nutrient density via two paired regenerative and conventional farms in Minnesota. Regenerative criteria included those practicing one to all five soil health practices: no-till or minimal tillage, living roots in the soil, diversity in species, living ground cover, and animal integration. Each regenerative farm was paired with a conventional farm. Soil samples were collected by accepted practices and analyzed by RegenAg Lab using the Haney and Phospholipid Fatty Acid tests, which analyze quantity of soil nutrients and biomass of soil microbes respectively.  Regenerative farms grew the Pearl variety and conventional farms grew the Rushmore variety.  At harvest, oats were collected and stored following lab protocols, and polyphenols, antioxidants, and protein were measured by the Bionutrient Institute. 

Results: Polyphenol, antioxidant, and protein content of oats were marginally higher for the samples grown on regenerative farms compared to oats grown on conventional farms, although small sample size limited any statistical significance. Results surrounding soil health measures supported higher measures of total soil biomass and overall soil health. 

Conclusions: Combining the field of nutrition and agronomy is challenging as nutrient values vary greatly with growing conditions and crop variety, whole grains like oats contain a wealth of critical nutrients, and soil health measures are greatly limited by drought conditions. We look forward to future, larger studies to explore connections between soil health practices, nutrient density and ultimately improved human health as climate change and its resultant impacts demand an understanding of the interrelated relationships of our food system.

Funding Sources: UMN Extension Southwest Regional Sustainable Development Partnership