Progress report for GNC23-365
Project Information
Kansas State University, Grain Craft, Intent, and in collaboration with farmers (Knopf, Jordan, Flickner, and Guetterman Brothers) built a team to provide integrated research, extension, and education efforts to farmers and future agriculture generations in understanding the role of regenerative agriculture practices on grain nutritional quality. The adoption of conservation practices has the potential to be a relevant path not only for food security but also for biofortification. Despite the wide range of soil health benefits through the adoption of no-tillage systems and cover crops, the effect of these practices on grain nutritional quality remains unknown. This project builds upon the two current on-farm networks (RAIN Farmer to Farmer Network and the Kansas Soil Health Network) and will be conducted in collaboration with farmers across the state (Knopf, Solomon, KS; Jordan, Beloit, KS; Flickner, Moundridge, KS; and Guetterman Brothers, Bucyrus, KS). The goals for this project are to: i) evaluate the effect of the adoption of cover crops in grain nutritional quality of wheat and soybean crops, ii) assess the interaction between management, environment (soil x weather), crop yield, and grain nutrient density under enhanced agricultural practices, and iii) inform farmers on potential opportunities to obtain a differential price due to grain quality segregation and explore premium prices via new markets. We believe that by setting a database for farmers to receive premium prices through specialty markets, we will be promoting regenerative agriculture practices, enhancing the overall sustainability, profitability, and well-being of the farmer’s operations and rural communities. The long-term goals for this project are to sustainably increase the nutritional quality of grains produced by adopting cover crops as an improved agricultural practice; understanding the link between soil health-plant-health-human health is critical for future farming conditions. In addition, this project also aims to promote the farmer’s financial well-being via the exploration of new markets for grain commercialization that will pay premium prices for major field crops grown under regenerative agricultural practices and with better nutritional quality. At the end of this project, farmers will: i) improve the nutritional value of grains produced on their farms, ii) improve the sustainability and profitability of their farming operations, and iii) identify and access of new grain commercialization possibilities. These outcomes represent critical steps toward farming systems sustainability, financial well-being, and promote access to more nutritious food by the overall community.
Learning outcomes: (1) provide integrated and continued extension and education benefitting farmers to understand the advantages of regenerative agriculture practices on grain quality; (2) develop new foundational knowledge that can help farmers access to differentiated grain markets and receive premium prices for their products; (3) assist on improving quality of life, as well as the financial well-being, of farmers and surrounding communities through the use of regenerative agricultural practices, food production with improved grain quality, and conservation of natural resources. The action outcomes for this project will be: (1) improve wheat and soybean grain nutritional quality through the adoption of regenerative agricultural practices (cover crops); (2) explore new market niches to commercialize grain with better nutritional composition; (3) assist on improving farmer and community’s overall quality of life, economic well-being, and knowledge about better agronomic practices that can improve short and long-term sustainability. The sum of all these outcomes will help us to understand better the relationship between management, yield, and nutrient content on wheat and soybean grain. Furthermore, we also expect to generate knowledge that will improve farming practices in the North Central region.
Research
This project was built upon the RAIN Farmer to Farmer Network and the Kansas Soil Health Partnership and intended to be a complement on the on-farm soil research already being conducted for more than three years located in the Jordan’s Farm in Beloit - KS, Flickner’s Innovation Farm in Moundridge-KS, and Knopf’s Farm located in Solomon-KS (Figure 1). The soil health assessment is conducted with soil sampling for soil health measurements being taken every 3 years. The study design consists of a randomized complete block design with four replications and with GPS-coordinated sampling points for the 3 study sites. The treatments consist of each of the farmer standard agronomic practices (no-till) and the improved practices (no-till + cover crops).
Grain samples were taken immediately before harvest for each GPS-coordinated sampling point within each replicate of the treatments and placed in plastic/paper bags and placed in insulated boxes containing ice. The parameters analyzed include wheat and soybeans grain mineral (Calcium, Phosphorus, Magnesium, Zinc, Iron, Manganese, Copper, Sulfur, Sodium and Molybdenum), wheat and soybeans grain oil and protein concentration, wheat and soybeans grain’s amino acid concentration (glutamic acid, linolenic acid, linoleic acid, oleic acid, palmitic acid, aspartic acid, and stearic acid), and wheat grain’s test weight (Table 1).
The main outputs for this project will allow farmers, agronomists, extensionists, students and overall community the opportunity of knowledge about how grain nutrient density can be related with management practices, as well as serve as further resource for farmers to access specialty markets for grain commercialization, receiving premium prices for grains with higher quality. We also expect to engage the academic community to further investigate the correlation between the use of enhanced agricultural practices and grain quality.
- Database generation for farmers to get paid for grain quality.
- Promotion of regenerative agriculture practices and soil health.
- Assembling one field day per year for farmers and agronomists at one of the research sites.
- Presentations and poster at ASA, CSA, CSSA and SSSA annual meetings
- Short content-based blog posts and tweets
- Peer-reviewed publication at the end of the project
- Extension publications regarding regenerative agriculture practices and their correlations and effect on grain quality, as well as the links of soil health – plant health – human health (one health). in 3 languages (English, Portuguese, and Spanish).
The project’s outreach will include the organization of field days for promoting networking and shared knowledge between farmers, industry, and the overall community. Our primary audience will be farmers who are not aware of the correlation and effect of regenerative agriculture practices on grain quality. We also intend to reach agronomists, researchers, extensionists from diverse universities, industry and NRCS. In addition, the information will be shared with K-State Research and Extension, K-State Agronomy Department, NCRS Kansas, and the overall agricultural community. As a part of the project, the progress and the results will be shared in social media (Twitter, Facebook, Instagram), as well as the creation and distribution of printed materials for the farmers and community. Additionally, the Kansas State University Agronomy Department reports will be used as a tool for reporting research results. Ultimately, our research findings will be presented in scientific conferences, as well as published in peer-reviewed journals.
This is an ongoing project, however, results have been collected at one farm location (Jordan's farm, Beloit-KS) for wheat and soybean grain analysis. The additional three on-farm experiments (Guetterman Brother's farm, Bucyrus-KS; Flickner Farm, Moundridge-KS; Knopf Farm, Solomon-KS) did not have either wheat or soybean utilized during the past crop season, therefore, grain samples were not collected at those locations. As a farmer-led initiative, the crops used in the rotations are subject to changes because of economic/market/commercialization advantages or disadvantages. The parameters analyzed include wheat and soybeans grain mineral (Calcium, Phosphorus, Magnesium, Zinc, Iron, Manganese, Copper, Sulfur, Sodium and Molybdenum), wheat and soybeans grain oil and protein concentration, wheat and soybeans grain’s amino acid concentration (glutamic acid, linolenic acid, linoleic acid, oleic acid, palmitic acid, aspartic acid, and stearic acid). All wheat and soybean parameters analyzed did not reveal significant differences (p < 0.05) between standard and regenerative agriculture practices (Figures 1 and 2).
New samples will be collected at the on-farm experiment locations during the year of 2025.
Educational & Outreach Activities
Participation Summary:
Preliminary results obtained from the Jordan's Farm location in Beloit-KS were communicated on two occasions in events promoted either by federal, state, and local agencies. The public impacted were farmers, ranchers, researchers, consultants, extension agents, as well as the general public. With a more robust dataset, we intend to generate extension and peer-reviewed publications and showcase and communicate our results on field days.
The main outputs for this project will allow farmers, agronomists, extensionists, students and overall community the opportunity of knowledge about how grain nutrient density can be related with management practices, as well as serve as further resource for farmers to access specialty markets for grain commercialization, receiving premium prices for grains with higher quality. We also expect to engage the academic community to further investigate the correlation between the use of enhanced agricultural practices and grain quality.
- Database generation for farmers to get paid for grain quality.
- Promotion of regenerative agriculture practices and soil health.
- Assembling one field day per year for farmers and agronomists at one of the research sites.
- Presentations and poster at ASA, CSA, CSSA and SSSA annual meetings
- Short content-based blog posts and tweets
- Peer-reviewed publication at the end of the project
- Extension publications regarding regenerative agriculture practices and their correlations and effect on grain quality, as well as the links of soil health – plant health – human health (one health), in 3 languages (English, Portuguese, and Spanish).