Soil is not Inert

By Judy Swain

So, this is a Re-thinking Lifestyles column, yes? Why, then, am I writing about soil and farming? Well the catchment area of The Carillon is primarily an agricultural area. Vast tracts of our land are in crops. Our families’ livelihoods and all our consumers are dependent on the profitability and future viability of those fields, not to mention the quality of the crops. So, if the state of the earth suggests a need to ‘re-think our lifestyle’, then agriculture itself could use some inspection and introspection

The excitement, for me, is in the realization that ‘dirt’ is not inert. It is not just stuff … sand, silt, clay … for plants to suck on. It is alive ! You can actually smell a living soil. Earlier farmers knew this. They would check it out, SNIFF IT, come planting time. The plants and the soil are a living ecosystem. Actually, we could say the air, the plants , and the soil are a living ecosystem. There is structure, communication, and exchange going on in every direction. Understanding the design of this system, which has developed over millennia, would surely help us to benefit from it even more than we already do.

I read an author last week who says that mankind got off track 7,000 years ago, when we started digging up the soil ! Where in nature do we see that as a requirement for growing? Likewise, to repeat the concepts I outlined last week, in natural systems we see a protective cover on the soil at all times, retaining moisture, protecting roots and seeds, feeding soil microbes. These soil microbes in turn feed the present and future plants. Did you know that biologically active soils can devour crop residue in a matter of weeks? But if we starve microbial life, by leaving the soil bare, how will they be present in sufficient numbers to feed our crops?

We see multitudes of different plants growing together, all thriving. Their differing root types bring different elements from different layers of the soil to the ‘underground livestock’ and to ALL of the growth up top. Did you know that soil scientists tell us that there are very few actual deficiencies in the soil? Only deficiencies in microbial life to bring the elements to the plants.

We see living roots in the soil for every possible second of the season. Do you ever marvel at the greenness of some plants under the snow when it starts to melt?

And we see livestock periodically eating and trampling and pooping on the land. Yet everything recovers, in fact recovers dramatically, as the whole process actually spurs growth.

Crop residues and ongoing ‘cover crops’ help retain moisture in the soil. One farmer who followed these ‘new’ practices had a neighbour beg him to remove those healthy looking hay bales from the field, so that the crop insurance adjuster would see that his fields had suffered from drought. Was there not the same drought condition over the fence? Similarly, after a monumental downpour of 13 inches in 24 hours, you could still drive across the regenerative farmer’s field without leaving any sign. No ruts. The soil with structure had simply absorbed all that rain. Soil with structure and cover is resilient to changes of many types. Nothing runs or blows away.

But if tillage is so destructive how do we deal with weeds? Regenerative agriculture is a work in progress. Its practices and possibilities are being explored on farms and in books, articles, blogs, and websites, like SARE and Understandingag.com. Certainly details are far beyond the scope of this article. But on the weed issue, experience seems to show two things: competition from healthy cover crops helps to suppress weed growth, and the healthier the soil becomes the more weed pressure declines. This last seems to be a product of a changing fungal to bacterial ratio, which comes from pursuing the five principles outlined here. There are interim stages in transitioning our land to practices that treat the ecosystem as a whole, with compromises to be made along the way. Ideas specific to each particular situation can be found in the ongoing experiences of other farmers exploring these principles.

Although it may seem far-fetched to you, these natural processes also protect the environment on a much larger scale than you imagine. We can dramatically modify the effects of climate change through our agricultural practices. If we are not tilling, we are using less fossil fuel. If our fields are green, or covered, the soil is cooler. When the fields are green the plants are pumping CO₂ out of the air and pumping Oxygen into it, while they are harvesting the sunshine and feeding the soil biology. If we can run and/or feed our animals on the land instead of in feed lots we can use cover crops or cash crops to feed those animals, while capturing manures on the land to feed the microbes and adding organic matter to the soil, which then holds on to moisture, be it in short OR abundant supply. If we are not using fertilizers and mineral and nitrogen supplementation we are also using less fossil inputs, and saving the earth from the wasteful and damaging erosion of those products into our waterways. Likewise saving ourselves from big expense.

An added, though essential plus in this era of chronic degenerative illnesses: the nutrient density of the foods we grow increases, along with our own bottom line.

Everyone wins. … except maybe the fertilizer salesman?