Soil Biology and Organic Matter - Ray Weil

Gaining a better understanding of how soil biology and soil organic matter are impacted by management decisions is important for improving soil health. Highlights of this session include:
• Creating a field environment that helps soil organisms thrive
• Understanding the interactions among soil organisms, of which there may be trillions in a single acre
• Building soil organic matter and feeding the food web-how cover crops pay by improving the soil ecosystem in a way that supports cash crops
• Digging into the various forms of soil organic matter, some of which exist short term and some of which benefit the soil and soil biology over the long term
This presentation is part of the 2017 National Conference on Cover Crops and Soil Health. Slide presentations and additional conference information is available at www.sare.org/covercropconferen....
Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) provides grants and outreach to advance innovations that improve profitability, stewardship and quality of life. SARE is supported by the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, USDA.

[@SoLSamuraibloodblade]

Biosphere 1 is the Earth if anyone was interested.

[@mojavebohemian814]

I have been to B2, bought and read the books, and other information. It was an excellent proof for everyday people to understand our planet. It supports permaculture.

[@leecrotty658]

Thank you. Weird question. Can I throw leftover pork meat n bone meal on my lawn? I get it free sometimes at the truck washout. How much is too much? (Testing This on my lawn and teeny tiny garden)

[@SAREOutreach1]

Lee- you might want to check with your local cooperative extension office for more information on lawn care.

[@mikedee8876]

try it....if worms like it, its a winner.....I would put some wood ash on it to temper the smell.....

[@Digger927]

I disagree with that last slide. I did nothing but change over to no-till for the first few years I was getting into this soil health initiative and that alone along with adding in cereal grain production, brought my SOM levels up by over 1.5% in three years. When I started incorporating cover crops of ~3,000#DM/ac in the off season, I gained another .5% SOM in the first two years. There's a lot more going on in that process than just what is gained from the DM of the cover crop. As Mr. Weil pointed out to start with in the vid, much of SOM is actually from the soil life that is fed and grown by the root mass of the cover crops. It seems that point was completely lost in that last slide. At any rate, my farm and experience has shown differently from that last slide.

[@saveoursoils]

In fact, Brent, you are right to disagree with that last slide because, to simplify, I ignored the roots! The rhizodeposition and sloughed off roots likely would have increased the inputs by 50% or so. Plus the below ground C inputs are converted into stabilized organic matter at about twice the rate as above ground residues. So, yes, the number of years to see a measurable change in SOM might actually be about half as long as indicated for just the above ground C inputs. That said, there is research that shows that the big gains in carbon concentration (SOM%) with no-till occur only in the top few cm of soils and that there may be less C in deeper depths so that the net changes in C stocks per area of land (including the subsoil) is less than may shallow soil samples suggest.

[@Digger927]

@@saveoursoils Interesting, thanks for the reply! All I know is what I experienced on my land. However there may be an argument for the fact that it was in such a poor state to start with. Kind of like adding sulfur to sulfur deficient wheat...you'll see a much more vigorous response than with wheat that has enough already. My SOM growth rate seems to have slowed since the third year of gains. I'm adding better mixes of covers and cattle this new year so we'll see if I can bump it up again.

[@hosoiarchives4858]

Use woodchips

[@saveoursoils]

In some very arid environments, wood chips applied on the soil surface can have a positive effect on plant growth and C storage by reducing temperature and conserving moisture. But in general, wood chips tie up available nitrogen, thus slow plant growth and C inputs. Also, the wood chips represent a loss of C that would otherwise have eventually been stabilized in the soils where the trees were grown.

[@Tony-Blake]

@@saveoursoils What of (chemically-untreated) wood chips on garden paths in temperate climates?

[@saveoursoils]

@@Tony-Blake They are fine if you don't plan to cultivate where the oaths are. But they will tie up nitrogen a bit - and be careful about the tree species...some are allelopathic.

[@shannonrotella1384]

@@saveoursoils Do you think the species of tree is more important than the age of the wood chips when considering allelopathic effects of the wood chips? I have read that all fresh mulches have phytotoxic properties at first, but lose them within a few months. Thanks

[@saveoursoils]

@@shannonrotella1384 the age or degree of decomposition of the chips will it affect their ability to tie up nitrogen. The species will be more important for possible allelopathic effects. Cedar and Birch are a couple of suspects.

[@lukejones1244]

The nutrients that plants need come from rocks. The soil life break down the rock particles and make them available to plants. Some organic matter is needed to feed the soil life. But being overly obsessed with organic matter is unbalanced and not good for mental health. Like with all things, people go to extremes and become fanatic, even travelling around giving talks because they think they can start a revolution and become a leader of people. That's because everyone has an instinctive desire and need for religious devotion, but as they have rejected God and the Bible, they have to fill the void with something else. So some worship their dogs, others become fanatic about the national flag, others worship organic matter. The list goes on. Every object and interest known to human beings is turned into a religion because they are all searching for spiritual devotion. But substituting Jehovah and the Bible with things like organic matter is madness and leads to mental health problems. That's why mental illness is becoming more widespread and mankind gets crazier and crazier. Why not maintain a balanced viewpoint of all these things, and keep your religious devotion for the one who deserves it because he made all these things? Then you will find peace and contentment.

[@williamgibson2760]

Agree! Well stated. And I am deeply intrigued and immersed in the experience and study of soil health and farming. I thank you Father God for Creation, Beauty, Order, Truth & Salvation through Your Son, Our Lord Jesus.

[@gregridgeway8790]

I agree with most of your comment but I wouldn't knock someone for driving around giving talks if it pays the bills. People are willing to pay to be educated by people who may know something they want to learn and it's an honest value exchange. It's possible I haven't gotten far enough into the video to hear the obsessive, fanatical, soil organic matter worship part though it's anticipatable that as a microcosm of the world we live in. Odds are high there is going to be some pantheistic and / or evolution gibberish to filter out like the 10K years of agriculture on a planet only about 7k years old. I'm not expecting it's going to get any better over time "until the words of Elohim shall be accomplished."