As a baker, here's why you should care about soil

Flour starts with wheat. And wheat? It starts with soil.

That’s why, even though we’re a baking company focused on helping you bake better bread and improve your cake confidence, we’re also focused on soil health. As Annie Rowell, King Arthur’s Environmental Sustainability Manager, puts it, “It’s important to equate your love of baking with a love of soil.” Here’s why. 

What do we mean by “soil health”?

The National Resource Conservation Service, founded by Franklin Roosevelt in response to the destruction and loss of topsoil in the Dust Bowl years, states that “Soil health is defined as the continued capacity of soil to function as a vital living ecosystem that sustains plants, animals, and humans.”

More specifically, that includes: a lot of available organic material; sequestered carbon; and high moisture and mineral retention. It means rich, hearty soil that won’t runoff, establishing a thriving layer of topsoil with enough nutrients that crops can grow with fewer interventions.

Scott Slusher

Why does soil health matter — especially for bakers?

Healthy soil is the foundation of strong, resilient crops — including the wheat that becomes our flour. But topsoil, where 95% of our food grows, is disappearing faster than it can rebuild, making farming more challenging, especially as weather patterns become more extreme.

To address this urgent problem and support the farmers we work with, we’re committed to Grains for Good: 100% of our flour available at grocery stores will come from wheat grown using regenerative practices — farming methods that build healthy soils, support ecosystems, and strengthen farming communities. These include approaches like cover cropping, crop rotation, reducing chemical use, and minimizing soil disturbance (also known as no-till farming).

Many of the farmers we work with have been using these approaches for decades, seeing benefits like healthier soil, stronger crops, and greater resilience to drought, and we’re supporting them in continuing this necessary work. We’re also working alongside soil experts nationwide, including the Soil Health Institute and Kansas State University, to advance soil education and region-specific solutions. As Annie puts it: “Healthy soils mean farmers can continue growing high-quality wheat — for our flour and our bakers.”

She notes, too, that improving soil health is a complex balancing act between product quality, environmental sustainability, and economic impact for the farm and farming community — one with vast differences depending on where wheat is being grown, from North Dakota to the panhandle of Texas.

How to support soil health in your baking

It’s easy: Bake with planet-friendly flour! We’re working toward incorporating regeneratively grown wheat in all of our flour — meaning every bag is a way to bake for a better planet — and in addition, here are a few specific flours with unique soil health benefits.

Golden Wheat Flour: The wheat in this flour is grown by farmers using regenerative practices, allowing them to till less, reduce fertilizer and chemical use, and improve soil health to help withstand extreme weather events.

Regeneratively-Grown Climate Blend Flour: This flour is an innovative whole wheat blend of unique wheat varieties grown using regenerative practices that improve soil health; not only is the wheat itself bred to be more resilient, but it’s also farmed in a planet-friendly way.

Organic Wheat Flour: Organic farming is built on healthy soil, because all the necessary nutrients, like nitrogen, have to come from the natural ecosystem, rather than chemical fertilizers.

Buckwheat Flour: A unique crop, buckwheat supports healthier soil by “unlocking” phosphorous, freeing it for other crops (like wheat, which needs a lot of phosphorous) to make it available without the need for chemical fertilizers.

Rye Flour: Rye has the almost magical capacity to improve soil health. It has weed-suppressing properties, so there’s less of a need to use herbicides. It also has an expansive root system, which is why it’s so good at water uptake; it can grow well in dry soils and help prevent erosion.

Learn more about Grains for Good and how we’re working toward incorporating regeneratively grown wheat in all of our flour — meaning every bag is a way to bake for a better planet.

Cover photo by Scott Slusher.