Podcasts about Soil health

What's one big change we can make that can make our food healthier, make farming more lucrative, draw down carbon in the atmosphere, and reduce climate emigration?That's today's big question, and my guest is Sasankh Munukutla. Sasankh is the Co-Founder of Terradot, a satellite and AI-based gigaton-scale, soil-carbon sequestration verification system.Sasankh originally hails from Singapore and grew up across countries as a third-culture kid and a future global citizen attending international schools. Before college, Sasankh took two gap years and served as a Commander in the Singapore Armed Forces. Once at Stanford, he completed his undergraduate degree in Computer Science with distinction as a Terman Scholar, Phi Beta Kappa, Tau Beta Pi, and with the Stanford Award of Excellence.So, you know.As you'll hear, Sasankh is deeply passionate and thoughtful about the intersection of technology and social impact. He's worked in the refugee space, on accessibility, and is a major force for organizing in the tech for good space. Something we can all get behind.Here's the deal:Globally, soil has the potential to sequester up to 1.85 gigatons of carbon per year but soil degradation threatens our ability to feed a growing population, and soil desertification will result in 135 million soil refugees by 2050. Fun!That's where Sasankh and Terradot come in.For farmers, Terradot will incentivize adopting sustainable agricultural practices that sequester carbon, improve soil health, and enable participation in soil carbon credit markets.On the other side, for carbon buyers, Terradot can eventually provide high-integrity carbon removal credits while allowing them to verify and monitor the permanence of carbon removal – an essential piece of the puzzle.-----------Have feedback or questions? Tweet us, or send a message to questions@importantnotimportant.comNew here? Get started with our fan favorite episodes at importantnotimportant.com/podcast.-----------INI Book Club:Mountains Beyond Mountains by Tracy KidderHow to Avoid a Climate Disaster by Bill GatesSpeed & Scale by John DoerrFind all of our guest recommendations at the INI Book Club: https://bookshop.org/lists/important-not-important-book-clubLinks:Follow Sasankh on TwitterConnect with Sasankh on LinkedInCheck out CS+ Social Good and Tech ShiftFollow...

Do you view your farm as a production space? A landscape that should generate x number of stems in x square feet for x amount of dollars each season?  Many farmers do.  In this episode, host Jennie Love encourages listeners to look at their farms as whole ecosystems that serves millions of lives, not just your own goals.  Jennie is joined by author, Dr. Doug Tallamy, a professor in the University of Delaware's Department of Entomology and Wildlife Ecology.   For years, Dr. Tallamy has studied how insects interact with plants and how those interactions impact the food web, right up to us humans.  He's authored several books, including Nature's Best Hope, which is the main focus of this episode's discussion.    Farming is the single biggest land-use category on this planet!  With nearly 50% of the earth's land being used for agriculture, every single farmer HAS to be part of the solution as we face down the 6th great extinction our planet has seen. Some of the actionable steps that Doug and Jennie talk about are to: stop spraying pesticides of any kind plant native plants increase diversity of plants, particularly trees leave your weeds alone and stop manicuring your farm and let it get a little loose and wild.   If you enjoy the content you hear on this podcast, consider joining the Regenerative Flower Farmers Network (RFFN), a community of like-mind growers who put the ecosystem at the forefront of their farms.  It's less than the price of a fancy latte to join for the whole year! Members get special access to podcast guests and other exclusive content, including an article with 15 favorite tried-and-true native plants for cutting.   Please rate and review this podcast on whatever platform you are listening.  It only takes a minute and your review helps spread the word about this podcast and its important message so we can effect even more positive change for our earth and our community.  Many thanks for your help with that!

We got a chance to sit down with Winfield United to discuss the process and planning of creating the Artimuss Turf Type Tall Fescue blend.  If you're looking for some high level grass seed knowledge and understanding of what goes into bringing a high quality blend to market, you won't want to miss this one! Follow Winfield United! www.winfieldunited.comIG: @winfieldunitedKeep Off The Grass Lawn of the Week is proudly Sponsored by ProPEAT Fertilizerswww.Propeat.com IG:@propeat1Join us LIVE every Tuesday night on YouTube-jump in the chat, weigh in, and try to win a giveaway!  SUBSCRIBE!!!www.youtube.com/keepoffthegrasslivecast Follow us on Instagram! www.Instagram.com/keep.off.the.grass Check out our website for more info and merchwww.KOTG.live The Keep Off The Grass Livecast is a collaborative effort of DIY lawncare enthusiasts seeking to pool our knowledge and learn from each other.  As always, be sure to research what is right for your lawn, as well as what products and application rates are acceptable and appropriate for your area, and don't forget to add .edu to ANY lawncare search for professional turf grass publications!

In this episode we focused on our boy Nate and what he's got going on in his Iowa turf.  We chatted about how he got into lawncare, what he's using, and how Stripe.life got started.Follow Nate on IG: @Stripe.lifeKeep Off The Grass Lawn of the Week is proudly Sponsored by ProPEAT Fertilizerswww.Propeat.com IG:@propeat1Join us LIVE every Tuesday night on YouTube-jump in the chat, weigh in, and try to win a giveaway!  SUBSCRIBE!!!www.youtube.com/keepoffthegrasslivecast Follow us on Instagram! www.Instagram.com/keep.off.the.grass Check out our website for more info and merchwww.KOTG.live The Keep Off The Grass Livecast is a collaborative effort of DIY lawncare enthusiasts seeking to pool our knowledge and learn from each other.  As always, be sure to research what is right for your lawn, as well as what products and application rates are acceptable and appropriate for your area, and don't forget to add .edu to ANY lawncare search for professional turf grass publications!

The circular economy is often wrongly characterised as a tech solution, or a solution for tech, but it's about much more than that.As we heard in episode 97, there are two cycles: the technical and biological one. In this episode, we're exploring the latter.Colin Webster from the Ellen MacArthur Foundation talks to farmer and soil advocate Abby Rose, and Gero Leson, Vice President of Special Operations at Dr. Bronner's, to hear about the benefits and practicalities of agriculture in a circular economy.--Useful links:Find out more about food and the circular economyCheck out Abby Rose's podcast FarmeramaLearn more about Dr Bronner's work with farmersDiscover more about the biological and technical cycles Listen to all episodes of the Circular Economy Show PodcastVisit the Ellen MacArthur Foundation's website

According to a study last year at Oregon State University, co-developing land for both solar photovoltaic power and agriculture could provide 20% of total electricity generation in the United States with an investment of less than 1% of the annual U.S. budget.  Widespread installation of agrivoltaic systems could reduce carbon emissions by 330,000 tons annually […]

Themes: Health, Sustainability, Permaculture, Regenerative Agriculture, Nutrition, Food Systems Summary: Is Glyphosate really that bad? Does buying local produce actually make a difference? Why should we care about soil — it's just dirt, right? WRONG! So pumped to bring you this conversation with environmental filmmaker, citizen journalist, and musical activist, Rob Herring. Rob is the director and producer of the award-winning film The Need to GROW, which explores the opportunity we have to help regenerate our planet's dying soils and participate in the restoration of earth. Join us for a fascinating chat on the importance of restoring our connection to nature, rethinking our food system and regenerating our most precious natural resource: soil.  Discover: Why using the herbicide Glyphosate has become common-practice for farmers around the world and its detrimental effects on our soil, food and health Why soil biodiversity is so freaking important and why we should care as consumers What regenerative agriculture is and why it's the key to a healthy planet and people The simplest and most powerful steps you can take to mitigate the effects of destructive/conventional agricultural practices on your health and that of the environment The health benefits of gardening, getting your hands dirty and eating fresh food 00:00 Intro 00:36 The Need to GROW 08:07 Why destructive agriculture is the norm 23:42 How you can help 31:15 Connecting with nature and the positive health effects 40:17 The environmental cost of corruption 48:56 What could happen if we let nature regenerate 52:03 Returning to nature  Links: Watch this episode on Youtube  Watch The Need to GROW for free here! Farmacy of Light | farmacyoflight.com Earth Conscious Life | EarthConsciousLife.org Tip News | Tip.News Make Soil | makesoil.org This Is Your Brain on Food by Dr Uma Naidoo The Biggest Little Farm Documentary Sponsors: ION* | Use code CREATETHELOVE for 15% off sitewide at intelligenceofnature.com (Offer only available to US based residents. Coupon applies to all one-time purchases, excludes bundles and subscription purchases) Cured Nutrition | Use code CREATETHELOVE for 20% all products at curednutrition.com/createthelove Create the Love Cards | Use code CTLCARDS15 for 15% off at createthelove.com/cards See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

John Ledermann’s rental relationships are built on healthy soil. More Information • LSP’s Conservation Leases Toolkit • Land Stewardship Letter article on John Ledermann • LSP’s Soil Health web page • LSP’s Land Transition Tools You can find LSP Ear to the Ground podcast episodes on Spotify, Stitcher, iTunes, and other podcast platforms. Source

"If you're going out on your farm and see something you've never seen before, you're doing things right." It turns out that a discussion about insects and soil health isn't just a discussion about how insects affect soil health. It's also about how the disappearance of beneficial insects is affecting the health of plants, wildlife, livestock, crops, rural communities, and ourselves. Jonathan Lundgren, founder and director of Ecdysis Foundation, trains future scientists and farmers at Blue Dasher Farm in South Dakota. In this episode, he exchanges observations about systems approaches with Pat Bittner, a fifth-generation farmer in southern Indiana who grows corn and soybeans. You can be involved with Ecdysis' research efforts by participating in the 1,000 Farms Initiative, where researchers from the Ecdysis Foundation work with farmers across the nation to analyze farm system level responses. Check out ecdysis.bio to become a participant or donate to support the research.

David Johnson and Hui-Chun Su Johnson’s approach to composting may help farming reach the ultimate regenerative ag pinnacle: self-sufficient soil. More Information • LSP's Microbiology web page • Managing a Johnson-Su Composting Bioreactor • Ear to the Ground podcast episode 271: Focusing on Fungi • Ear to the Ground podcast episode 266: Activating Soil Life • Land…  Read More → Source

What Allen Williams unearthed on the farm of Rachelle and Jordan Meyer. More Information • LSP's Soil Health web page • Land Stewardship Letter: A Season of Knowledge Transfer • Allen Williams Ear to the Ground podcast series • Jordan Meyer Ear to the Ground podcast: Embracing the Weed You can find LSP Ear to…  Read More → Source

This week: Alberto Acedo, co-founder and chief scientific officer at Biome Makers, talks about how the company's BeCrop technology can test soil health to drive improvements in agricultural sustainability. He discusses the benefits of identifying the soil metrics that help farmers identify and monitor biological and chemical properties of soil to provide effective solutions for sustainable agricultural management. Plus: quick fire insights from Golden Agri-Resources' Anita Neville, Mighty Earth's Glenn Hurowitz and Everland's Joshua Tosteson, speaking at Innovation Forum's sustainable landscapes and commodities conference in Amsterdam. And: funding for loss and damage due to climate change and a proposed two-year halt in debt payments from nations impacted by climate-related disasters, discussed at COP27; a more-rapid shift to regenerative agricultural practices needed according to Sustainable Markets Initiative taskforce's report; and, a growing row between Indonesia and the EU over legal timber and deforestation due diligence, in the news digest. Host: Ian Welsh Please complete Innovation Forum's five-minute survey and get exclusive first access to useful insights on sustainability supply chain trends. Survey available here.

Habitat Podcast #202 - Todd Graf from www.bowhunting.com joins Jared Van Hees and Brian Halbeib on the show! Todd is another habitat manager just like the rest of us. This is an informative episode on all things habitat management with a brand new property. We cover: How Todd got into hunting or habitat and how Bowhunting.com came to be Todd's new property discussion - blank slate. We go over the whole rundown, details, etc. Habitat projects - 1st project, most effective, biggest mistake.  Habitat Features Todd has implemented - Ponds, no till food plots, forester/logging, tree planting... The power of Soil Health and no till food plots October Hunting plans / goals or strategies for this farm   Todd's favorite hunt where his habitat manipulation paid off  Favorite Tree --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Endless Horizons Archery (all of your archery needs) - https://bit.ly/3QBVNRl Rut27 Sale - https://exodusoutdoorgear.com/discount/rut27 Legendary Forest Products (Forestry and Logging) - https://bit.ly/LegendaryFPs Exodus Trail Cameras - https://bit.ly/ExodusHP FIRST LITE --> https://bit.ly/3EDbG6P LAND PLAN Property Consultations – HP Land Plans: LAND PLANS Leave us a review for a FREE DECAL - https://apple.co/2uhoqOO Vitalize Seed CARBON LOAD - FREE SHIPPING on Food Plot / Soil Builder Diverse Seed Mixes - https://bit.ly/vitalizeseed Packer Maxx - http://bit.ly/PACKERMAXX $25 off with code: HPC25 Morse Nursery Tree Dealer Pricing – info@habitatpodcast.com YOUTUBE - Habitat Podcast Email us: info@habitatpodcast.com Exodus Trail Cameras - https://bit.ly/ExodusHP Afflictor Broadheads - https://bit.ly/AfflictorBH Morse Nursery - http://bit.ly/MorseTrees 10% off w/code: HABITAT10 Michigan Whitetail Pursuit - http://bit.ly/MWpursuit Habitat Podcast AMAZON Store - https://www.amazon.com/shop/habitatpodcast Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Episode 216 - Soil Health - Soil Food Web - Cultivating Better Food - Better Lawncare & More with Pasquale Caccavella  Pasquale Caccavella joins the show to discuss his work as an amateur mycologist, gardener, and citizen soil scientist. We discuss why the soil food web is so important to not only our health but the health of the planet. Pasquale educates us on how we can cultivate better yards, gardens, and soil, and help not only our health but the planet's health!     You can subscribe on iTunes or any podcast service of your choice, via an RSS feed, and on YouTube. Just search "The Well Man's Podcast" and you'll find our page. We'd love to hear what topics and discussions you'd be interested in hearing, or what aspects of your health you want to improve most. Check out old episodes in video form: http://bit.ly/TWMPUTube  Follow & reach out to Keoni at: @KeoniTeta nhcnc.com  Follow & reach out to Bryan at: @BBrozy BryanBrozy.com; You can also subscribe to Bryan's mailing list to get actionable health information delivered right to your device by clicking here: https://bit.ly/B_Well  Please email us at wellmanspodcast@gmail.com, telling us how we can best serve you!  https://www.facebook.com/The-Well-Mans-Podcast-555112064834290/ https://www.instagram.com/thewellmanspodcast/   

Two decades after crop failures almost ended his farming career, soil health pioneer Gabe Brown reflects on how far the regenerative ag movement has come…and where it’s going. More Information • LSP's Soil Health web page • Ear to the Ground No. 288: More with Less • Brown’s Ranch • Soil Health, Profits & Resiliency: Land Stewardship…  Read More → Source

How the Bergler family stopped “chasing their tails,” started fixing their farm’s damaged soils, and welcomed curious queries. More Information • LSP's Soil Health web page • Land Stewardship Letter: A Season of Knowledge Transfer You can find LSP Ear to the Ground podcast episodes on Spotify, Stitcher, iTunes, and other podcast platforms. Source

Tom Cotter sees his return on investment tied directly to how freely he lets soil biology do its job — and that starts with a diverse community above and below ground. More Information • LSP's Soil Health web page • Land Stewardship Letter: A Season of Knowledge Transfer • Ear to the Ground No. 266: Activating…  Read More → Source

Jason and "guest host-client-friend" Joe Switzer talk with Dr. Rick Haney about soil testing and all things soil health. The guys share their stories about why lime becomes unnecessary as the plant-microbe interaction mediates the soil pH in and around the root rhizoshpere. Oh, and Jason talks about propolis spray and Moscow mules!

Dr. Silva is an Associate Professor in the Plant Pathology Department at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.  Her research and extension program focuses on sustainable and organic cropping systems, including cover crops and cover crop-based no-till production, variety selection in organic environments, and the impact of organic management on soil biological and physical properties. Erin has launched a comprehensive organic grain training program for farmers in the upper Midwest, “OGRAIN”. Erin works closely with organic farmers and industry members both in Wisconsin and throught the upper Midwest and serves on the Wisconsin Organic Advisory Council.   Organic Grain Resource and Information Network Website: https://ograin.cals.wisc.edu/  

Trisha Jackson, Ph.D. is the Director of Regenerative Agriculture for PraireFood™. She hails from central Kansas, where she learned to value prairies and rural communities. Her educational and personal adventures took her around the world, where she admired diverse cultures, foods, landscapes, and agriculture. Through her graduate studies in soil science, environmental studies, and climatology, she came to understand how regenerative agricultural practices build healthy soil to create truly resilient communities brimming with nutrient-dense food, clean water, and plentiful wildlife. With these values in mind, she was pleased to join the PrairieFood team to help ensure that rich, fertile soil is the number one crop.

 This month on Conservation Starters, we're joined for a second time by TCD's Senior Natural Resource Specialist, Adam Peterson. During this episode, we delve into the topic of soil health. Adam breaks down why soil health is so important and teaches us how we can make sure we're protecting the soil in our backyard! We also discuss the District's soil testing program and even analyze a soil test for Conservation Starters host, Kiana. Tune in to this episode to learn more about how you can get a sense of what's happening in your soil!Resource:Adam Peterson, aperterson@thurstoncd.comThurston CD's Soil Testing WebpageWSU's Growing Cover Crops GuideWSU's Plant Clinic WebpageDOE's Web Map of Commercial Environmental Labs If you have a question about Conservation Starters or want to suggest an episode topic, contact Ksinner@thurstoncd.com.

As an accountant and a farmer, Joe Lawler sees building soil health as a way to strike a balance between economic and ecological success…and boy is it fun to see a pollinator planting come to life. More Information • LSP's Soil Health web page • Pollinator Conservation Resource Center • NRCS County Office Directory • Ear…  Read More → Source

In the Weeds Series 10 Episode 3: MSU Extension Educator Monica Jean  and Sarah Fronczak, sit down with Christine Sprunger,  Associate Professor of Soil Health at the MSU W. K. Kellogg Biological Station,  to discuss organic matter and all its fine details.

Wildfire season has stretched longer and become more damaging in our region. Now researchers are looking at how microbes in the soil can be restored to health – so it can support plant life.

In this episode of The Dirt, Mike Howell speaks with Andy Jobman, a fifth-generation farmer in central Nebraska who serves as President of the Nebraska Corn Growers Association. They discuss this year's corn harvest, the importance of soil sampling and how Andy is incorporating sustainable practices into his farm. To learn more about the sustainable agriculture visit nutrien-eKonomics.com

Everett Rolfing knew one thing for certain: no-till would never work on his farm. His soil had a different idea. More Information: • LSP’s No-till & Soil Health web page You can find LSP Ear to the Ground podcast episodes on Spotify, Stitcher, iTunes, and other podcast platforms. Source

It is a rare pleasure to speak with a person of consequence and have their undivided attention for an hour. Ray Archuleta, who needs little introduction, has been a person of consequence in the lives of Buz Kloot (Soil Health Labs at the University of South Carolina) and Tanse Herrmann, NRCS Grazing Lands Soil Health Specialist working out of Rapid City, South Dakota. In this podcast, Buz and Tanse host Ray Archuleta and catch up with him, but before that, both Buz and Tanse tell their stories of how they first met Ray and how he has impacted their lives. A theme that runs through the podcast is The Goal of farming/ranching – making money is an outcome, but The Goal is to Follow the Pattern that Mother Nature has provided. We talk to Ray about his journey since he left the USDA-NRCS (where he served for 3 decades) and what he's been up to since then. Ray now has land near Seymour, Missouri and talks about having “Skin in the Game” now that he has his own land payment and his own livestock to manage! Ray talks about having skin in the game as being a great tool to make him more empathetic to the ranchers and farmers he speaks to, and he still does a lot of that. Ray also speaks from his own experience of farming with sheep, the mistakes he has made and what he's learned in the process – infrastructure, animal safety and health, epigenetics and simplicity of design are discussed. The conversation turns to the work that Alejandro Carrillo has done on the Las Damas Ranch in the Chihuahua desert and how transformational this has been to the landscape (see the Las Damas Case Study at the end of these show notes). Ray uses the discussion about Alejandro's land as an opportunity to educate us on the principle of ecological context (often considered the 6th principle of soil health), in this case, he discusses ecological context in terms of the difference between rainfall on his land (~45” a year) versus Alejandro's (8” - 10” a year). Note that the first five principles of soil health are: 1. Minimum disturbance; 2. Cover the soil; 3. Keep a live root in the soil as many days as possible; 4. Add diversity of plants (e.g., grasses and broadleaves, warm and cool season, annuals, and perennials); 5. Incorporate livestock back to the land. The discussion of ecological context also led us to spend some time discussing the very important human dimension of rangeland and farmland management, and how people make decisions. We make a few references to Dr. Ellen Davis's Book “Scripture, Culture and Agriculture” and the work by Hannah Gosnell and others in a paper called “Transformational adaptation on the farm: Processes of change and persistence in transitions to ‘climate-smart' regenerative agriculture” where “dimensions of transformation [are] associated with beliefs, values, emotions, worldviews, structures of meaning-making, and consciousness” are discussed. See below for the links to these two references. References from the Podcast: Alejandro Carrillo: Las Damas Ranch Case Study, Las Damas Ranch, Aldama County, Chihuahua, Mexico https://understandingag.com/case_studies/las-damas-ranch-case-study/ Ray discusses infrastructure, and there is no better network on rangeland and farmland advice than the SD Grasslands Coalition Mentoring Network where mentors on fencing and water placement, among other things, are provided: https://sdgrass.org/mentoring-network/ SoilHealthLab's podcast with Shannon Kulseth-Iverson: “39 How Rangeland Health and Livestock Work to Solve Environmental Issues” https://www.growingresiliencesd.com/podcasts/episode/c506bbc6/39-how-rangeland-health-and-livestock-work-to-solve-environmental-issues Books Discussed in Podcast: Note we have links for convenience- there are other outlets that carry these books as well. André Lund. The Wonder of UHDSG (Ultra High Density Strip Grazing): Elandsfontein Beaufort West - Central Karoo South Africa. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/40894069-the-wonder-of-uhdsg-ultra-high-density-strip-grazing Ellen Davis. Scripture, Culture and Agriculture. https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/5941497-scripture-culture-and-agriculture Movies: “Kiss the Ground.” Understanding Ag's Ray Archuleta, Gabe Brown and Kris Nichols, Ph.D. https://kissthegroundmovie.com/kiss-the-ground-understanding-ags-ray-archuleta-gabe-brown-and-kris-nichols-ph-d/ Recommended Podcast: The Regenerative Agriculture Podcast – hosted by John Kempf. https://regenerativeagriculturepodcast.com/ Books Recommended by Ray Archuleta (these are all searchable, some of them available in pdf format) 1) Allan Savory - Holistic Management 2) Eugene P. Odum - Fundamentals of Ecology (3rd or 4th edition) 3) David Gleissman -Agroecology by 4) Weil and Brady - Nature and Properties of Soils (15th edition I available) 5) Martin Alexander - Introduction to Soil Microbiology 6) Patrick Lavelle and Alister V. Spain - Soil Ecology 7) David Coleman, mac Callaham and D.A. Crossley, Jr. Fundamental of Soil Ecology 8) Sir Albert Howard – An Agricultural Testament 9) N.A. Krasil‘nikov -Soil Microorganisms and Higher Plants: The Classic Text on Living Soils 10) Michael John Swift and others: Decomposition in Terrestrial Ecosystems 11) Donald Q. Innis- Intercropping and the Scientific basis for traditional agriculture 12) David Pimentel - Handbook of Energy Utilization in Agriculture (ISBN 9781315893419) 13) Ken Killham - Soil Ecology 14) David Pimentel - Food, Energy and Society 15) Richard Bardgett, Usher and Hopkins - Biological Diversity and Function in Soils 16) Bill Mollison - Permaculture: A designers Manual 17) Fred Magdoff and Harold Van Es - Building Better Soils for Better Crops 18) Richard Bardgett and others - Soil Ecology and Ecosystem Services 19) Brian walker and David Salt - Resilience Thinking: sustaining ecosystems and people in a changing world 20) F. Stuart Chapin and others - Principles of Terrestrial ecosystem ecology 21) Masanobu Fukuoka – One Straw Revolution

The Noble Research Institute continues its work to emphasize regenerative ranching, and that includes utilizing soil health principles. Senior Farm and Ranch Broadcaster, Ron Hays, is featuring comments from the Noble Research Institute

David Kleinschmidt is an Ag Economist by training. This background, coupled with a passion for soil health, holistic management and practical management make him a wealth of knowledge and perspective.On this episode, we cover a host of topics: Cover Crops, Soil Health, Microbes, GMOs, Chemistry, Biology, Profit over Production, Organic Matter. David used so many terms that I finally got tired of writing them all down in my notes. And little did I know that my recording software was basically self-destructing the podcast as we spoke. So you'll have to put up with a largely unedited version (see how many times you hear the land-line ring or our 3-year-old in the background) with TERRIBLE sound quality. But for those willing to put up with the noise, you're in for an interesting conversation about farming, ranching and as David appropriately states, "The Business of Growing Things."David Kleinschmidt217-370-3799 dkleinsc@gmail.com  

Luke discusses the recent history of sudden autumn walnut frost events in California's Central Valley, how to prevent damage ahead of the next sudden frost, and how to rehabilitate damaged orchards. Recorded Zoom webinar: Practical Canker Management in Almond and Prune: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p4JwrMGKros&t=3s Articles referenced in the podcast: Six steps to prepare for the next sudden autumn frost: sacvalleyorchards.com/walnuts/horticulture-walnuts/prepare-for-next-sudden-autumn-freeze/ Spring frost: sacvalleyorchards.com/walnuts/horticulture-walnuts/preparing-for-extreme-events-spring-frost Recovery from freeze damage: sacvalleyorchards.com/walnuts/horticulture-walnuts/2020-freeze-recovery Upcoming Field meetings:Introduction to Orchard Irrigation Management in three locationsMadera: Monday, November 7, 2022, 7:30 AM—12:00 PMBakersfield: Monday, November 14, 2022, 7:30 AM—12:00 PMModesto: Wednesday, November 16, 2022, 7:30 AM—12:00 PMAlso on Wednesday, November 16, 2022 from 8:00 AM to 1:00 PM there is a Best Management Practices for Soil Health meeting at the Kearney Agricultural Research and Extension Center in Parlier, California. If you will be attending the West Coast Nut: California Walnut Conference in Yuba City on January 4th and 5th – I will be talking about walnut freeze on Wednesday, January 4 at 9:30 AM.

This episode of The Dirt continues our series on sustainable agriculture. Dr. Carl Rosen from the University of Minnesota joins Mike Howell to dig into what potato growers are doing to become more sustainable, how to minimize nutrient loss and nitrogen management techniques.   To learn more about the sustainable agriculture visit nutrien-eKonomics.com

If you were an earthworm, what type of farm would you like to be living on? This question was posed to Mike Phillips of Valley View Farms in Mauzy, Virginia, who is a student of history and a champion of soil health. Jeff Ishee was able to catch up with Mike at a recent Soil Health and Cover Crop Field Day in Rockingham County to learn how Mike seeks to mimic nature in his farming and soil health principles. Mike is always cognizant of keeping soil covered, nurturing soil biology, and managing his above and below-ground livestock. He encourages us all to know we are part of a system and that all living things are sacred. Therefore, we should manage our lives, farms, and soils to be in harmonious balance. Mike has been inspired by many people throughout his life and he is fiercely intent on inspiring others, particularly young and beginning farmers, to farm and live as part of the land and sacred system.Context is a critical precept for customizing soil health to your farm and landscape. To learn more about Mike Phillips's passion for farming and care of the land, please take six minutes to listen to two of Virginia Cooperative Extension's Soil, Conservation, and Place videos at https://youtu.be/Sgbqt_AnA8s and https://youtu.be/HyW858Hb12k Learn more and hear the conversation on our website www.4thesoil.org or wherever you get your podcasts! As always, we encourage you to do your part to build soil health on your farm, in your garden, and in your landscape.

DISCOUNT CODE!!! (For Utah and Nevada residents)https://httlfarms.myshopify.com/products/quarter-share-beef-nov-2022Use code boundless40 for an additional $40 off your order!We are releasing a Sneak Peak episode so that people can take advantage of a time-sensitive discount code! Brennen Burkhart is a rancher, and co-owner of HTTL Farms, a small family farm located in central Nevada. The farm consists of 180 acres of pasture and about 150 cows.  HTTL Farms keeps things simple and they believe that simple is best! And if you've come this far, feel free to a link for early access to the full episode!Find Brennen and HTTL Farms at-FB- @HTTL FarmsYT- @HTTL FarmsIG- @httlfarmshttps://httlfarms.myshopify.com/Check out our new Patreon page! Get access to the Boundless Body Radio Premium Podcast, with a new episode added every other week! Other perks include early releases of our episodes, extended video content, and group and one on one coaching!Find Boundless Body at- myboundlessbody.com Book a session with us here! Check out our new Patreon page!

On today's episode, we hear about the importance of soil health when establishing a crop early in its life cycle.   Supporting the People who Support Agriculture Thank you to our sponsors who make it possible to get you your daily news. Please feel free to visit their websites. The California Walnut Board - https://walnuts.org/ PhycoTerra® - https://phycoterra.com/ Verdesian - https://vlsci.com/ BeeHero - https://www.beehero.io/

Think most nematodes are parasitic? Actually, the majority are beneficial and can provide biological control for bacteria, fungi and other nematodes. Deborah Neher, Professor in the Department of Plant and Soil Science at the University of Vermont explains that the name nematode in Latin means roundworm. But do not confuse these worms with the common earthworm. They have a very simple anatomy that is purely dedicated to eating and reproduction. The microscopic, aquatic organisms live in water films that surround soil particles. Nematodes are the most numerous soil-dwelling animal and can live in extreme conditions. Listen in to learn how nematodes fit into a healthy soil system. References: 28: Understanding Soil Health (podcast) 72: Soil Microbes and Nutrient Availability (podcast) Ecology of Plant and Free-Living Nematodes in Natural and Agricultural Soil Neher Lab Neher Lab Publications Perspectives article that covers history and approach to soil health with research agenda to soil health: Resilient soils for resilient farms: An integrative approach to assess, promote and value soil health for small- and medium-size farms. Role of Nematodes in Soil Health and Their Use as Indicators SIP Certified Soil Builders Module 3d: Compost for Soil Function and Disease Suppression, 9 December 2021. Invited Webinar Presentation (podcast) Soil community composition and ecosystem processes: Comparing agricultural ecosystems with natural ecosystems Sustainable Ag Expo November 14-16, 2022 | Use code PODCAST for $50 off The soil symphony. Interview by Leah Kelleher, 8 August 2020 (podcast) Get More Subscribe wherever you listen so you never miss an episode on the latest science and research with the Sustainable Winegrowing Podcast. Since 1994, Vineyard Team has been your resource for workshops and field demonstrations, research, and events dedicated to the stewardship of our natural resources. Learn more at www.vineyardteam.org. Transcript Craig Macmillan  0:00  And with me today is Dr. Deborah Neher. She's a professor at University of Vermont and has done some really, really interesting work on soil health in particular, micro organisms and what role they play. And so today we're gonna talk about nematodes. I'm excited.   Deborah Neher  0:15  Yeah, it's great to be here. nematodes get me excited too. Been working on it for like 30 years now, believe it or not.   Craig Macmillan  0:22  I believe it. First of all, let's drop back a second. And we're talking about healthy soil soil health, the role that these organisms play in that. What is your definition of a healthy soil, I think that's kind of a tough thing.   Deborah Neher  0:33  Sure. And I know everybody has a slightly different version. But just to keep it really short and succinct, it needs to be porous, it needs to be chemically balanced, as well as containing organic matter. Let me just elaborate on those briefly. We need a range of pore sizes in soil to help give it good structure and that also allows for a balance of water and oxygen, so that the plants and the microbes can live and have air to breathe. We need a chemically balanced both the nutrients as well as a pH. And as far as organic matter it plays a number of different roles. It can hold moisture and nutrients kind of like a sponge. And that's also where we have the biological activity happening. And organic matter has negative charges on its surface the nutrients have positive charges so they can attract you know like magnets with opposite charges. You know, organic amendments usually come with microbes as well as nutrients so they're bringing the life into soil and supporting that.   Craig Macmillan  1:31  And speaking of life, that's what a lot of your work has been the the soil microbiome plays a huge role and how that functions obviously and different organisms have different roles. So we have bacteria, fungi, we have protozoa, we have nematodes, am I leaving anybody out I don't want to leave anybody out.   Deborah Neher  1:49  Micro arthropods is another big one like mites is another one.   Craig Macmillan  1:53  Oh, yeah, that's right. When we do we don't talk about that much at least in my experience is the nematode part of it. What exactly is a nematode? First of all.   Deborah Neher  2:01  So the term nematode might be a bit foreign, it is a Latin word. If we translate it into English, it means round worm. And they are different than earthworms. They are different taxonomic phyla, so very different. One thing you will notice when you look at a nematode is it moves very differently than an earthworm. It has kind of a snake like S shaped movement, and that's because it only has longitudinal muscles, so it's not very coordinated. Nematodes are the most numerous of all soil dwelling animals. There's a great quote about how abundant they are. This quote is by a famous nematologist about 100 years ago, his name was Nathan Cobb, and he said, nematodes are so numerous that if you were to zap the earth, and just leave the nematodes representing the structure there, went outer space and looked back, you would be able to see see the Earth and the contours of the earth based on where the nematodes are. If you knew the associations of those nematodes and plants and animals well enough, you'd even be able to tell which plant and animal communities were wher. Back to kind of what they are there, you know, the very minute the soil nematodes are microscopic in size, one millimeter would be a very large one, you'd be able to see that kind of with your naked eye, but we usually have to look at soil nematodes, through a microscope. These tiny round worms, they basically are aquatic organisms, they live in the water films that surround soil particles. So I like to refer to them as the other aquatic organisms. And they're so tiny that they're forced to really navigate within the existing pore structure of soil within those water films. They are different from earthworm. Earthworms can move soil particles, these guys can't. Another kind of interesting thing, if you looked at their anatomy, it's very simple. They basically their whole anatomy is only about getting food and having sex, okay? They don't have any eyes, they don't have any appendages. They're determining where they're going based on kind of touch and smell chemical cues, as I'd like to say they've just got life down to the basics, just eating and having sex. And their whole whole body structure is based on that.   Craig Macmillan  4:28  They are relatively simple. What are some of the major categories of nematodes because there's a huge array of different even beyond genus just types and categories and do all kinds of different things. What are some of the major categories?   Deborah Neher  4:41  Yeah, I like to think about the categories we call them kind of feeding groups or trophic groups would be a way to think about it. Most people when they think of nematodes they automatically think about plant parasites, and that is an important, you know, group of nematodes but that's usually a minority. The majority of nematodes are actually beneficial. And they can be categorized into groups. One group would be bacterial feeding nematodes, another one that feeds on fungi. Another group that's actually predacious. And those can actually feed on protest or other nematodes. So they could have like a biological control component. And then we have some that we call omnivores, meaning they eat a variety of food sources. But those predators and omnivores are kind of higher up on the food chain than those that are feeding on the microbes. So you kind of almost have a whole food web just have nematodes.   Craig Macmillan  5:40  Wow, that's a that's pretty, pretty amazing. They also though, were parasitic to animals, their animal parasitic nematodes as well, right?   Deborah Neher  5:48  Yes, there are animal nematodes. These tend to be much larger than the ones you see in soil. They're not you know, restricted to going between the particles of soil. They're actually in the cavities, you know, the digestive cavities of animals. So examples like intestinal roundworms, pinworms, hookworms, those would be examples of nematodes that can be inside vertebrates, and those are very serious parasites.   Craig Macmillan  6:11  Yeah. And so that kind of where I was going for, which you've been very helpful was it's a type of organism that is incredibly diverse, all aspects of life on Earth are connected to nematode in some fashion. Now going back to soil specifically, so what are the roles that different kinds of nematodes play in the functioning of the healthy soil?   Deborah Neher  6:31  I'd like the fact that you pitch that as what is the function, because this is something I think about is it's really more important thinking function than just the specific organism itself. And that's why I study them. And that two major ecosystem functions in soil one is decomposition. And the other is nutrient cycling. Nematodes are really tightly linked with nutrient cycling, and particularly nitrogen, okay, and they're not feeding on, you know, the decaying organic matter, they're feeding on the microbes right. Their link in with nitrogen cycling is kind of both direct and indirect. Directly, they actually the food they take in any extra nitrogen they have, they excrete it in the form of ammonium as a byproduct. And that happens to be a nutrient or form of nitrogen in that plant can take up. So that's one way. And the second way indirectly is by feeding on bacteria and fungi, they can, you know, decompose the tissues, the body tissues of those microbes. Let me back up one moment, because bacteria and fungi are all especially bacteria, very important in nitrogen cycling, all the different stages. And nematodes can are a predator on those. And when you have a predator on a prey like that, you know, it kind of culls out or removes the sick, the weak, the old and keeps the most active ones going. And it ends up by that grazing activity on those microbes, that it makes nitrogen cycling more efficient, they can release more nitrogen per unit of carbon. So they don't take as much energy to kind of keep this nitrogen cycle going. So they're kind of keeping that bacteria in a healthy state, you know, in terms of their role in nitrogen cycling, but as I mentioned before, they also excrete ammonium. So we've estimated based on in my research that they contribute about eight to 19% of the nitrogen mineralization in soils, which is much higher than it's been reported in the past. So very important.   Craig Macmillan  8:46  That's incredible. And so what they're doing is they're consuming something and they're digesting it. And so it goes, it comes in in one form and leaves in another. Yes, it makes it in a plant available form.   Deborah Neher  9:00  Yeah, so you know, when they're ingesting bacteria, fungi, those are all their proteins and their bodies are comprised of amino acids. And when you digest an amino acid, one of the products is ammonium. And when the nematode gets more nitrogen than it needs for its own maintenance, the excess is then excreted as an ammonium. And that's a form plants can take up.   Craig Macmillan  9:26  And again, like they like that ammonium is going to be in solution in water on a soil particle and a root is going to grab that water and pull it up into the plant.   Deborah Neher  9:37  That's exactly right. Yeah, any nutrients have to be in water solution to be able to be transported into the plant through the roots.   Craig Macmillan  9:46  And this just occurred what are the conditions, soil conditions that promote different types of nematode populations and what are so conditioned that maybe limit them?   Deborah Neher  9:56  So that's a great question. What are the reasons that I got and to study nematodes in the first place is because they are distributed everywhere in all kinds of ecosystems, all types of vegetation. So that by saying they're everywhere means that they can also withstand some extreme conditions. I mean, we find them in extremes for temperature for cold for dry. Some groups of nematodes have an ability to go what they say in a kind of a cryobiotic state, or if it's for dryness and anhydrobiotic state, meaning when it's super dry, they can change into kind of a suspended animation or a dormancy where they can just kind of shut down, they survive, but their metabolism goes way, way down. And they have a way to kind of change their chemistry within their body so that they can stay alive and not damage their tissues. You know, I've studied nematodes in desert soils, where it's 60 degrees Celsius, so like, you know, over well over 100 degrees, and they're hanging out in there. Now, some of them are gonna get triggered into this other stage when it gets harsh. Okay, so one thing that would not be good for nematodes is if you would deplete the oxygen, they do require oxygen for survival. So if you had a situation where it was say flooded, for a long period of time, and all that oxygen got used up, that would be that would be very harmful to nematodes. The other thing that we can see is if you use very intense, general biocides, let's just say application of methyl bromide, for example, that pretty much wipes out everything.   Craig Macmillan  11:38  That'll take care of it. Yeah.   Deborah Neher  11:44  I mean, there are different species that that are adapted to different kinds of conditions. So if you have, you know, a tropics versus agricultural land in the temperate zone versus a wetland, they're gonna have different species just because they're adapted to those unique conditions.   Craig Macmillan  12:01  So you can tell a lot about a location. You can almost guess location like like constant I'm guessing that particulars species or perhaps genus, I'm not sure what level would be the important one, but you probably could or should identify these specific organisms, these specific types of organisms. How do you do that? We're talking about microscopic things that are distributed around soil. How do I find these little guys? What how did nematologists do it?   Deborah Neher  12:31  Yeah, no, that's a great question. First of all, address your species versus genus query. One is when we're looking to plant parasites, everybody identifies them to species, and sometimes even more precise than that there's actually races or, you know, subspecies, we would say. When we're looking at free living nematodes, we're happy if we can get to genus. We don't even have the knowledge to go to species for many of those. And part of it, there's so many different kinds, because I might find 50 to 100 different genera in one soil sample. So how do I get there, you get there. The first step is you have to get them out of the soil. And what we do is make a water slurry. So we'll take the soil, and we'll mix in water and stir that. And that will allow the nematodes to kind of swim out of that soil and into that water. And then we will run those through a series of sieves. So we start with kind of a coarse or large opening, go through that one first and make it successively smaller and smaller, until we can collect just we can get rid of the soil particles, and just have the nematodes on the final sieve. So that's one approach. But there are other methods that can be used to in terms of like cleaning them up as we can. I've used techniques where you can put them in a tray that has some kind of filter holding it up and having water and they'll swim out of that and you can collect them in an outer tray. And another cool technique is we can use a sugar flotation when you put this liquid into a tube with sugar, and spin it in a centrifuge, they're going to float because they're less dense than sugar. So if you're trying to concentrate them, you can use this method so that you can just pour the top part of that onto a serve. Now one tricky thing with that technique is you can't leave the sugar on very long, you got to get them rinsed off or they're just gonna shrivel. It's gonna make identification impossible, and it's also just a sticky mess to work with. So, people have been steering away from that. So I think of kind of a sieving methods giving a water slurry. The method I described with the sieving and flotation method is the one that I use for looking at entire soil communities. If one was interested in only the plant parasitic nematodes, there's another technique that's called an an illustrator, or semi automated method, and faster for like a diagnostic lab. And this is a technique where they use a sieve and they run water over it, and then there's some movement of that water and they can collect it, it's just a way they can try to process multiple samples. An illustrator is is a faster method, kind of what we call semi automated will allow a lab to process more samples within a day. The one downside with it is it's not as efficient with clay soils can miss some of the nematodes and under represents these predators, and the omnivores. It works great when you're just looking for a particular plant parasite, for example, that's fine, because you kind of know which needle in the haystack you're looking at.   Craig Macmillan  15:58  At least you know that.   Deborah Neher  16:02  Once you get the sample out, then it's usually in a water suspension. And we usually just let those settle for a little while and ends up that nematodes fall with gravity about one inch per hour, wait till they settle and we can concentrate them and then we'll first of all count how many nematodes we have in that volume of sample. And then we'll take a what we call a mass mount slide a slide that has a cavity, some depth, put some in there, and then we'll do the identification of those and we have to go to about 200 times magnification using a light microscope. Features that one looks at are some of the mouth features those that are at the feeding so you can understand the feeding, but also the the esophagus, within it and nematode you can see straight through there transparent. So and think about it is that you don't need the pigments if you're in soil because you don't have light. So these organisms are you don't need sight you're not seeing and they're you know, they're transparent. And so you can see straight through them. One of the challenges is, they are 3d. So sometimes you have to do a lot of focusing up and down takes a really good microscopists to do that. Some people will actually try to fix them or you know, kill them to hold them still. But sometimes you lose characters like how they move and swim can also be a character sometimes that helps to identify.   Craig Macmillan  17:31  And that quantification and identification has been important to another topic you work on, which has been around the idea of nematodes, as bio indicators might tell you something about what's going on in the environment, just whether they're there or not. And who. Can you tell us a little bit about that work, because fascinating stuff.   Deborah Neher  17:47  Sure. First, let me just give you a perspective, I consider myself a community ecologist. So I use a community ecology approach. So I'm looking at the community structure, or the community composition, and how that changes under different land management practices. The type of index that I found works the best is one that really looks at what the life history characteristics of different species. That means how sensitive or tolerant they are to disturbance, you know, how many offspring they have with their generation time is. So just to give an analogy, you know, it's kind of like comparing rats and elephants or carp and trout. Rats are the kind of what we call early stage, you know, they come in, they can tolerate a lot of stress where an elephant is going to be very sensitive, they have a long generation time. So if we apply that in nematodes, we have those that are early colonizers and those that are later in succession. We can tell the type and severity of disturbance based on the composition of that community. And as we learn more than we'll be able to even tell, you know, was that disturbance due to cultivation? Or was it disturbance due to heavy metal contamination, or perhaps even just a lot of additional a lot of fertilizer, that can actually shift a community to a very early successional stage. It's kind of an indicator of ecological succession. So you know, if you're in a forest, and you have a clear cut, and you want to progress gradually to a mature stand, old growth, you know, there's a lot of changes in species composition. So if there's no disturbance, you'd get to the old growth where there's, you know, the ultimate would be if you clear cut it, you can see the same kind of patterns in nematodes. So you can tell the kind of disturbance and where it's at on their trajectory. So that can be helpful to know the level of disturbance. It can be a tool for monitoring if you're trying to restore an environment as well. Now one thing that I just want to kind of address a myth is the idea of diversity. Most people think more diversity is better. And yeah, in general sense, but we have to be a little careful because diversity is just a mathematical equation. And it doesn't tell you who is there. You could have a diversity of invasives. Right? So we need to get to know who is there, it's just not how many different kinds are there. The other thing, if we're thinking of that analogy of a clear cut to an old growth is the most diversity is actually in the middle in the intermediate, because you're kind of in a transition between an early phase and a late stage. So you have overlap of species. For both of those. When you're at either extreme of the continuum, you actually have lower diversity, we tend to like to think about biodiversity, but we have to be a little bit careful in terms of that. And that's why I prefer an index that just looks at the community structure where it is on the whole continuum, rather than limiting it to just diversity.   Craig Macmillan  20:59  So is this something that a grape grower could use over time to see I'm using these practices? Is the community changing? is a community changing? In a good way? Are there things that I do that have suddenly you know, like you said, knock backwards and successional progress? Is that Is this the kind of tool? Is this the kind of measurement I can use to make decisions?   Deborah Neher  21:21  That is exactly it, it works best if you're doing it through time, you need to start somewhere and get a baseline. And then it's how is that changing through time, and it gives you feedback back on, am I on the right track or not? It's using this index where I really learned the cultivation or the physical disturbance of soil has the greatest impact on the soil foodweb. And it will set that back further than say, applying, you know, whether it's a chemical disturbance, whether that's a pesticide or fertilizer, for that matter. So the physical disturbance is really the most destructive to soil foodwebs.   Craig Macmillan  22:00  And that actually brings up another question, when we think about soil foodwebs. Are we talking about the first four inches? Two inches, six inches? Is there stuff happening in a foot that I should be interested in? Is there stuff below that, that I should be interested in? Because I got roots that are down at you know, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7? Feet? Where should I be putting my attention Deborah tell me please? Where should we put my attention?   Deborah Neher  22:20  Well, that's a great question, because so much sampling focuses on the top eight inches, because that's the plow layer. But that's a problem. Because really, the biology is going to be as deep as the roots. You know, the biology tends to be the most abundant near the surface and decreases as you go with depth. The other thing with roots is you have to think where are the actively growing roots. And when you're dealing with trees and woody plants, the biggest roots are not necessarily where all the activity is, it's really where the new roots are. And that's where the most biological so thinking about where is that happening? That would be the right place to look. Right. And usually that's a little closer to the surface, but there could be some of it deeper. So I usually like to think think about where the roots are. And that's where you should be sampling.   Craig Macmillan  23:07  Well that is some really good advice. And thank you for taking a topic that I personally have found very confusing over the years and giving it some clarity for me and also helping me see how we can what it means but also how we can use it and and how we should monitor it, which I think is great. So I want to thank you for being our guest, Dr. Deborah Neher Professor University of Vermont and plant soil science.   Transcribed by https://otter.ai  

Definition of soil health & why it's important (2:25), what growers can do for their soil (7:22), the definition of plant health & how it differs from soil health (9:45 – 13:38), best practices for growers (13:38), stable soil aggregates & microbial inoculants (15:33), soil & plant health industry trends (21:46), the new frontier of agriculture sciences (25:00).

Nutrien Sustainable Ag Field Manager Dr. Sally Fliss joins Mike Howell on this week's episode of The Dirt to discuss sustainable agriculture practices and how you can implement these practices on your farm.   To learn more about the sustainable agriculture visit nutrien-eKonomics.com

One of our most effective tools for improving planetary health is the food we choose to eat. In environmental terms, a vegetarian diet is great and a vegan diet is even better. However, imagining that the bulk of the population will willingly shift to a vegan diet over the next few years seems pretty unlikely (to put it mildly). So, where does that leave us? In today's episode, we're joined by Eat the Change co-founder Seth Goldman to advocate for a plant-based approach to food and diet. In a plant-based model, vegetables, fruits, fungi, and legumes are the key players - but there's not a single food group that's entirely off-limits. In this episode, we chat about Seth's line of delicious and healthy snacks made from back-to-basics ingredients like carrots and mushrooms, his background as an entrepreneur in the health food space, and why you can't sacrifice taste if you want to change peoples' eating habits. Show NotesEat the ChangeAbout Seth GoldmanPLNT BurgerBeyond BurgerHonest TeaETC ImpactInnovator's Agenda: How We Approach Innovation at Eat the ChangeEat the Change on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook

Will soil health work on your farm? That is a question that farmers often ask related to soil health-building principles and practices, particularly in relation to multi-species mixtures and diversified enterprises. Brian Downing of Crooked Row Farm is a second-generation farmer located in Randolph County in central North Carolina. He shares his perspective on farming by the square foot and making soil health work on his farm. Faced with a soil compaction resource concern, he began experimenting with cover crop mixtures, a diversity of livestock and crop species, and enhancing the carbon currency on his farm. Brian highlights the need to understand what is happening on your farm by the square foot and to realize your farm has its own micro-economy that requires investments and savings in carbon and soil health. Additionally, farming and soil health accounts require sound recordkeeping to know where, how, and if wealth and health are growing and accruing as part of a stable micro-economy that naturally includes deposits and withdrawals. Learn more and hear the conversation on our website www.4thesoil.org or wherever you get your podcasts! As always, we encourage you to do your part to build soil health on your farm, in your garden, and in your landscape.

On this episode of The Dirt, Nutrien Sustainability Manager Michelle Nutting joins Mike Howell to discuss sustainable agriculture and how the 4R Nutrient Stewardship program is helping farmers to be more sustainable.   To learn more about the sustainable agriculture visit nutrien-eKonomics.com

Kadie Britt discusses research results from a project examining the effects of cover crop on overwintering NOW larvae mortality. Upcoming meetings: Introduction to Irrigation Management series to be held in Madera (Nov 7), Bakersfield (Nov 14), and Modesto (Nov 16). Best Management Practices for Soil Health to be held at the Kearney Ag Center in Parlier (Nov 16). Thank you to the Almond, Pistachio, Prune, and Walnut Boards of California for their kind donations. Thank you to Muriel Gordon for the music.The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed are the speaker's own and do not represent the views, thoughts, and opinions of the University of California. The material and information presented here is for general information purposes only. The "University of California" name and all forms and abbreviations are the property of its owner and its use does not imply endorsement of or opposition to any specific organization, product, or service.

On today's episode, we hear about the various benefits that optimal soil health can deliver, such as nutrient use efficiency, better yields, etc.   Supporting the People who Support Agriculture Thank you to our sponsors who make it possible to get you your daily news. Please feel free to visit their websites. The California Walnut Board -  https://walnuts.org/ PhycoTerra® - https://phycoterra.com/ Verdesian - https://vlsci.com/ BeeHero - https://www.beehero.io/

Soil is alive and we want a lot of life in the soil. According to Deborah Neher, Professor in the Department of Plant and Soil Science at the University of Vermont, healthy soils have three components. These are a range of different pore sizes to help with structure as well as balance water and air; balanced pH and nutrients; and organic matter to hold moisture and nutrients as well as provider microbes. Soil structure is created by mineral particles, bacteria, fungi, and plant roots. What determines a good quality soil depends on the ecosystem – a forest has different needs than active farmland. Bacteria and fungi are the life forms most associated with soil health. Some tests show the number of fungi and bacteria and their ratio to one another. However, they are not showing what is in the soil and there is still limited research on what these fungi and bacteria are doing. Often bacteria are associated with negative health factors. But there are many good bacteria that promote plant growth by producing nutrients or making nutrients more available. Others provide biological control. And others convert nitrogen in concert with legumes. Fungi can also be good and bad. Their structure is like linking pipes so they connect plants. This can help cope with drought conditions by pulling water from faraway sources. Deborah also touches on how to properly compost to kill off pathogens and weed seeds. Through research, she found that the process is more complicated than knowing the nitrogen to carbon ratio – the type of carbon matters! Her lab tried the same nitrogen to carbon compost “recipe” in three different production methods: windrow, aerobic static piles (ASP), vermicomposting. Each final product had completely different fungal and bacterial communities. Listen in to learn what kind of carbon is best for disease suppression. References: 28: Understanding Soil Health (podcast) 72: Soil Microbes and Nutrient Availability (podcast) Changes in Bacterial and Fungal Communities across Compost Recipes, Preparation Methods, and Composting Times Managing Nitrogen in the Vineyard and the Winery Efficiently Neher Lab Neher Lab Publications Perspectives article that covers history and approach to soil health with research agenda to soil health: Resilient soils for resilient farms: An integrative approach to assess, promote and value soil health for small- and medium-size farms. SIP Certified Soil Builders Module 3d: Compost for Soil Function and Disease Suppression, 9 December 2021. Invited Webinar Presentation (podcast) Soil community composition and ecosystem processes: Comparing agricultural ecosystems with natural ecosystems Sustainable Ag Expo November 14-16, 2022 | Use code PODCAST for $50 off The Compost Handbook The soil symphony. Interview by Leah Kelleher, 8 August 2020 (podcast) Get More Subscribe wherever you listen so you never miss an episode on the latest science and research with the Sustainable Winegrowing Podcast. Since 1994, Vineyard Team has been your resource for workshops and field demonstrations, research, and events dedicated to the stewardship of our natural resources. Learn more at www.vineyardteam.org. Transcript Craig Macmillan  0:00  I'm your host, Greg McMillan and our guest today is Dr. Deborah Neher. She's a professor in the Department of Plant soil science, the University of Vermont. And today we're going to talk about soil health. Welcome to the podcast.   Deborah Neher  0:10  Thank you. It's a pleasure to be here.   Craig Macmillan  0:13  Before we get rolling, I understand you grew up on a farm, you have some background in agriculture.   Deborah Neher  0:16  I do. I grew up as a fourth generation family farm in Northwest Kansas, where we grew wheat and sorghum and had some livestock. And as far as my educational background, I have formal education in environmental science, as well as plant ecology. And I did my PhD at UC Davis in plant pathology. Since then, I've kind of merged to the ecology and the agriculture and I consider myself a soil ecologist. So my area is biology, but I work in soil.   Craig Macmillan  0:44  That's awesome. Because there's a lot of life in the soil. And we're about talking about everybody's interested in healthy soils. We have government programs now about topic. We have conferences, we have articles, we have books, but this is one of my favorite questions. When I talk to people about this topic I started with, what is your definition of a healthy soil?   Deborah Neher  1:03  That's a great question. And I know there's a number of definitions that are out there. But as a biologist, I want to first emphasize that soil is alive, and that we want a lot of life in the soil. A healthy soil would be one that's porous, that we have a number of, you know, range of different pore sizes, which give the soil structure and this also helps balance air in the water and soil. We need a chemically balanced soil, one that's valid for pH as well as nutrients in the soil. And then we need the biological part. And that's usually relates to organic matter, living plants. And plant roots are an important piece of that, too. Organic matter is kind of unique on the surface of organic matter, it's got these negative charges, and that attracts nutrients that have positive charges, like magnets, you know, opposites attract, yeah. But in addition to that nutrient holding capacity, it also brings in the microbes, and that's really a source of the microbes into the soil. Plant roots are also a source and support of the microbes in soil. So healthy soil, it's porous, it's chemically balanced, and it contains organic matter.   Craig Macmillan  2:10  The actual parameters for that are probably going to vary depending on the ecosystem, right? So what are the challenges for us? But how do I know like, how do I what do I manage? What do I look for? And obviously, I think, from what I can see, for different crops, I think the ranges are still kind of being figured out. I think what most people would like as well, I've got a five on this variable, do I need a 10? Or am I okay? And it doesn't seem to be that simple.   Deborah Neher  2:33  It is not that simple. It's really unique site by site, you know, one number can't really be applied to everything. When you get a number, you have to think well, what's good for what? And so a number for a good agriculture system might be a different number or a bad number, say, for a forest system, or for a functional wetland. So we have to really think about what is the the type of ecosystem? And what kind of land management practices are we interested in? That really depends and also what types of soil we're on, you know, what is good on a sandy soil might be different than if it's in a clay soil, heavy clay soil, for example.   Craig Macmillan  3:12  Exactly. And so today, I want to focus on the microbiome aspect of this. And we do you have a number of different types, classes, find ones even of organisms, bacteria, fungi, actinomycetes, silicates, nematota, there's probably others that I'm forgetting. But today, I want to focus on the bacteria and the fungi, because those are two things that you can send to you send a sample to a lab, and you will get some measures of those. And it's like, okay, cool, but what are they doing? Right, so what role do different kinds of bacteria play in the functioning of a healthy soil?   Deborah Neher  3:44  A great question. And I'll just start with, I think we have to be really careful not to over generalize and say all bacteria are alike, or all fungi are alike. Because there are such a broad diversity. There's 1000s of 1000s of species, and different species do different things. And I also like to think of microbiome kind of like an orchestra, you need all the different players and working together. You don't just want specialists and soloist, you need the whole ensemble, right? If we go back to bacteria, there's a lot of different bacteria there are people often think about pathogens, that's the first thing on the mind is the bad guys. But there's a lot of beneficial bacteria, as well. There are bacteria that we call them plant growth, promoting bacteria, they're producing chemicals in the soil that are stimulating plant growth, the plant might perceive them as kind of like a plant hormone, perhaps or it could be converting a nutrient that makes it more available to the plant. There are some bacteria involved in biological control. For example, there's a bacillus subtilis that's a known as a biological control. And they can do that by just through their own natural defenses. You know, they're going to antagonize or compete with other microbes. There are also bacteria that are involved in nitrogen fixation, that are associated with legumes in the nodules of the legume, they create like a little factory in there, where they're converting nitrogen gas from the atmosphere, and converting that into ammonium, which is a form that the plant can take out. And one thing we have to be careful in bacteria is not to think they're all alike, as I mentioned, and even, we go well, then let's get down to family or maybe get down to genus, but you even have to be careful. Not every species within a genus is the same. For example, there's one called Pseudomonas and there's one species of Pseudomonas Pseudomonas syringae. That's a pathogen. There's another species of Pseudomonas Pseudomonas fluorescence, that's a well known biological control. Now, fungi, fungi have equally different, you know, variety of lifestyles or things they do. There's also fungal pathogens, there's those that are decomposers mycorrhizae. That's a popular topic these days, that's a type of fungus. The cool thing about them is they're like a big plumbing system, they have this body structure that's like long pipes. They're called hyphae. And they can connect between different plants and go long distances. So they can be helpful to help plants say cope with drought, for example, because they can pull water from a great distance and pull that into a central use. I also mentioned the that an important attribute of healthy soils, I think, is aggregate structure. And these aggregates are really a composite of not only the mineral particles of soil, but it links in the bacteria that produce sugars on their outside their sticky, helping those hold together. And the fungal hyphae, which act like threads that weave these together and then plant roots to they're really working in concert with that soil to help provide this structure. Aggregate stability is I think, an excellent indicator that we can measure of soil health.   Craig Macmillan  7:04  Is that's related to bulk density?   Deborah Neher  7:06  Ah, good question. Indirectly, aggregateability can be related to bulk density. Usually, if you have more aggregates, you actually have lower bulk density. Okay, because an aggregate is going to have open spaces, it's going to have a balance of air and water. So bulk density would be just thinking about the solid particles per unit volume. So if you fluffed those up with more spaces and voids, within that aggregate, you'll have less bulk density.   Craig Macmillan  7:36  Is there is there a way that I can can measure or investigate aggregates?   Deborah Neher  7:41  Yeah, that's a good question. As far as aggregate stability, there are some really fancy advanced methods that organizations like NRCS, the Natural Resource Conservation Service do and if you're a soil scientist you get into there's also some really simple things that you could do. The simplest one I ever saw was taking an egg carton and in the base of those putting clumps of soil and then adding a little bit of water into each of those and see how much that disintegrates once you add water. If it just all crumbles and become small particles, you do not have very good structure. It should stay fairly intact when you're dripping that water on there.   Craig Macmillan  8:22  Interesting interesting. I'm just thinking about clay so we have a lot of a lot of vineyards are in clay, clay, gravelly clay, loams, etc on the Coast California and and other places. And how hard it is the water to go in to those clay soils. So I'm thinking about like dropping putting water on a chunk of clay and and just seeing it kind of get slimy.   Deborah Neher  8:44  Yeah, clays are tough clays are really tough.   Craig Macmillan  8:47  Are there ways to at least get a sense of how much life there is in this the soil? I mean, I know that that like, oh, that's got to have this or that. But other kind of metrics that are ways of investigating or anything that I can do. So for instance, I've been looking at some lab reports recently where they give us a total bacteria to active bacteria ratio, and they give us some ranges, then they actually will give us some actual identifications of particular nematodes that are found total funded active. Okay. So I've been trying to figure out kind of how to interpret that. But then I'm also curious, so how do you cope with that kind of thing? Is this a gene sequencing thing? Or is it a mass based thing or you pour the reagent on and it turns blue?   Deborah Neher  9:29  Great question. And I've worked with some of the methods, those measures that you're talking about are really, I think, defined as total and active bacteria, total and active fungi, right?  Those methods, at least when I've used them involve a stain, kind of a fluorescent stain that you put on. And then you're actually making those into onto microscope slides and using the microscope so you have to spend time behind the microscope and you're counting, you know the number of cells or the number of hyphae that are crossing, you have a grid there, a grid pattern, and you're counting it. And that allows you to be quantitative. It's a laborious method, I would say it is the gold standard, if you want to actually get an estimate of total microbial biomass and activity, however, it's very tedious and very laborious. Another approach that people have used is one that's called PLFA phospho lipid fatty acids. That one is an easier method to get an estimate of biomass and activity. These are giving you some estimates. But this is where I say we have to be careful about overgeneralizing because this tells us nothing about who is there or what they're doing. We just knows there's a lot of them. And that's step one. Sometimes we hear a generalization about what about the ratio of fungi to bacteria, for example, and it's been touted that we want to strive for a higher ratio of fungi to bacteria. I'll tell you this concept really comes it from literature and science that was done in the 1980s. Really, the focus was on the effect of cultivation and tilling the soil. That's what it's really representing. Because when we go and cultivate and till soil, in fact, that's probably the most destructive thing we can do to the soil biology, you're just like ripping their house in their habitat into shreds. You're wrecking that pore structure. But anyway, so in cultivation, when we have highly tilled soils, that tends to favor bacteria. I mean, if you think about it, lots of threads, you know, for the hyphae. If you're slicing through there with knives, you're breaking those up. So that's deleterious to fungi. It's also deleterious to earthworms and also deleterious to other micro arthropods and larger organisms. So with cultivation, it's known that those tend to be fairly bacterially dominated soils. And so the thinking is, then if you go with a reduced till, or no till you're going to have more fungi. And so you'll start to see that ratio increase that, you know, tells us something about cultivation. I guess being trained as a plant pathologist, my first thing is we need to know at least who is there? Are we talking about pathogens? Or are we talking about beneficials? If all of those and most of them are pathogens, we don't want them? That's not necessarily a good thing, if all those fungi are pathogens, like ferrocerium or verticillium, or yeah, so we need to know who they are. That's the tip of the iceberg, right?   Craig Macmillan  12:38  You're working on related work, you actually do go down to the species level, when you do figure that out to describe the community in whatever system it is you're looking at. How do you actually do that?   Deborah Neher  12:47  Traditionally, we we use agar plates, and we try to culture these organisms. And it took very specialized media, some organisms grow faster than others. So we put things on there biocides to try to inhibit the ones we didn't want and allow the ones we did want, we call that a selective or a semi selective media. But then we learned only about 10% of microbes can live on a petri dish. So we were just looking at a subset of these organisms that did well. And consequently, we are missing a lot. But that's where the molecular techniques have come in, and helped us discover all those organisms that are not able to be cultured on a petri dish. There are techniques where you can take a soil and you can extract the DNA out of that. And then we use a series of steps, we call it amplicon sequencing, we put out what's called a primer on there, and it's going to copy a specific region of that DNA. And it's usually a region that's highly variable between species. And then once we extract that DNA, we can go through a process called a PCR Polymerase Chain Reaction just makes lots of copies. And then we can look at the sequence and there's databases that have sequences, and that helps us match to who is there, you know, the technology keeps improving, the longer the pieces we have, the better resolution we're gonna have. If they're short pieces, we may only get to family or genus longer pieces, that technology keeps improving. So we'll get more species.   Craig Macmillan  14:27  Do you think this kind of technology is going to find its way into the commercial realm? Or is this a strictly an academic thing at the moment?   Deborah Neher  14:34  Oh, I think definitely. And the price keeps coming down. So it's getting cheaper and cheaper to do. What I mentioned is who is there? What technology we still have to develop is what are they doing? That's a different kind of technique, and that's still at the academic level, and uses some different methods where we actually have to look at the genes and link them into a function. Are they fixing nitrogen? Are they producing say an oxidative enzyme. Antibiotic? What are they doing that part's academic. As far as who is there? I think this is where we have to understand their ecology, we need to know who and a little bit what they're reflecting, or is knowing that say, a lot of E. coli is there, that might be telling us do we have a contamination problem, you know, for example, if we know that's it, then we can prepare like a probe, a little tag that says, I want that organism and we can actually go fishing for it, pull it out and quantify it and say, this is how much we have. And then we could develop a model and say, once you're above a certain threshold, this could be risky. But we have to link it to say, a land management practice, or some known contaminant or something about land management, so we can help interpret what that means.   Craig Macmillan  15:52  So it sounds like to me, at the practitioner level, or at the industry level, we have some broad categories of things that we can find out. But there's a lot behind the curtain, we are guessing a lot. And so what's your advice, if I'm in that kind of situation where I have some information, but I don't have the kind of maybe I would like from a science standpoint, it's gonna be very important, obviously. But you've said different microbes do different things, what's kind of my best bet in terms of how I should proceed, or their techniques or things changes maybe, or the things that I might look for. So for instance, you talked about pathogens, I should be taking the top, I should be taking the top of the plant the plant part and evaluating it in relation to the soil health. So I might, for instance, have a high, I don't know, total active fungi, but maybe they are deleterious. And so I should be looking at the plant, seeing how the plants reacting that just simply what I'm getting out of the analysis, because it's kind of like what you want kind of what the grower wants, this is my take what a grower wants to say, okay, I'm gonna take a sample of soil, and what set it off? And then I'm gonna get a report back, and they're gonna tell me, yes or no, do this. Right. That's kind of where we're at at the moment. And so do you have any advice for how I can work with that? I guess I'm looking for some help on like, okay, gonna report back what I do next thing is just kind of kind of fishing for something here.   Deborah Neher  17:14  I think the first step is you always want to be scouting your plants. Do you see some kind of symptom? How well is it growing? Is are those leaves yellowing? Do I see lesions? Above ground? Is there something below ground? I mean, I think that's step one. So am I expecting there to be a problem? Those are some factors that we'll look at, is it a disease or not? Or is it an insect? You know, it could be that kind of thing. So we need to see, are there lesions are there root nodules? Are there something that doesn't look very healthy? That's step one. And I was gonna say for sure, if that's the case, then I would send a sample could be soil, or it could be part of the plant that has the symptoms into say, maybe a plant diagnostic clinic, but a lot of land grant universities have these available to growers that would help you identify a disease. There is interest in just general microbial activity, because everybody's trying to increase the activity and the diversity, etc. Commercially, there's limited types of tests available. The ones that are available are going to do like you said, the active and total bacteria or fungi, there are some estimates of respiration, which is another measure of activity, right. And there's another method that's fairly new. It's a per manganite method. It's a different chemistry method, a different way of looking, I can get your reference for the, you know, at the end, this per manganite method is is really linked in with management practices, and has been shown to really link nicely with that rather than just respiration. The problem with respiration is that you don't know who is respiring is it fungi, bacteria, it could be the plant roots itself, too. So it's really difficult to interpret. That's the really hard thing is it's so general, you don't know where it's coming from. On the beneficials and looking at the overall community. There are not very many commercial labs available yet. This is something I really would like to see. And I keep pushing it. One of the challenges is trying to get enough people that are trained to actually run these tests. Yeah, yeah. Like I've worked with some nematode communities, and I don't look at just pathogens but beneficials and there just aren't enough people in the world trained to do that. However, I keep if we can narrow down a particular like a dozen or a couple dozen organisms that are really like sentinel species are really tell us something important. Then we could develop molecular probes to those that specifically pull those out and help us interpret it. But that is still really at the research phase. Those are some of the things I'm going to do. But I need more people like myself so that we can accomplish this faster and maybe in my lifetime.   Craig Macmillan  20:12  Yeah, that's, that's a whole nother show the state of science and encouraging scientists of the future. You know, you don't even think of like little Jenny at age 10. Hey say, Jenny, what do you want to be? I want to be an ecologist, you know, it's not very normal and get that all the time. But we need more kids like that. Right? Right. Because nematodes are incredibly fascinating. They are just mind blowingly fascinating. Before we before we talked about that, or if we have time to talk about that. I wanted to get to compost recipes. You've done some interesting work where you studied different compost recipes, including what the manipulations of the windrose were, and then what the impact was on soil and fungal communities coming out of that. What kinds of things did you learn?   Deborah Neher  20:56  Sure, let me just tell you how I got started on compost. Yeah, so there was a year, a couple years here, I'm in Vermont. So there were a couple of years here that we had some major epidemics called early blight, or late blight, and these affect solanaceous, crops, potatoes, tomatoes, it was just bad year bad weather for this particular epidemic. So the farmer said, What do I do with my disease plants? Well, the extension agent said, throw them in the landfill. And I'm like, you know, the idea is you want to have keep the organic matter and the nutrients on your farm, we're not throw them in the landfill. So I said why if you compost these properly, you should be able to kill those pathogens and those weed seeds. So I set up a demonstration project. And we demonstrated that, okay, it works. Now the catch is you've got to really do a particular type of composting, it's got to be really monitored, it's what we call a thermophilic composting. It's got to reach high temperatures, and it says high temperatures that really helped kill the pathogens and weed seeds. Okay, that part is pretty well defined guidelines for that are, you know, outlined by the National Organic Program. And those work, the thing that it doesn't do is tell you what comes after the composting, they tell you the guidelines how to reach the thermophilic. But you don't want to stop there. Because if you let that cure and mature, you're going to have a lot of recolonization by beneficial microbes, and micro arthropods that are going to help you manage diseases. But you got to let it you got to be patient and allow this recolonization it happens naturally. These rules that are guidelines that are developed by say National Organic Program tell you use a carbon to nitrogen ratio of say 25 to 40 to one, so that many units of carbon two per unit of nitrogen, but they don't tell you what kind of carbon and carbons come in different flavors. There's carbons that are like carbohydrates that are like sugars, starches, they're really easy to decompose. And there are those that are like lignans and cellulose that are more difficult to decompose. We took some recipes where we could keep carbon to nitrogen ratios constant, but just changed the type of carbon, we follow the recipe. But what we found is you get completely different outcomes, that the type of carbon will completely change the micro, the bacterial and the fungal communities. So they're very unique. So as I say, recipe matters. You really need to think about what are you putting, hay, are you putting softwood you know, wood chips you puting some hardwood bark? What is it? As far as disease suppression they found out, you know, including some wood chips in that the bark and they're generally support a product that has more disease suppressive qualities.   Craig Macmillan  23:56  Okay. Is there a reference or a compendium or a book, for instance, that might have some more need to have information about these techniques. So people can try different things.   Deborah Neher  24:10  I have a peer reviewed scientific articles that outlines the actual research. But I've also just summarized a very large comprehensive chapter on disease suppression and using compost for disease suppression that just came out in a new book called The A Composting Handbook that was published in December 2021. And that is now available for purchase. I think it's about 1000 page book. So it's very comprehensive. So I've got a chapter that's almost 40 pages long in there, but it includes tables of which kinds of pathogens can be managed with compost, which kind of diseases you know, that's that's one of the features that I think will be useful to people that want to use composting.   Craig Macmillan  24:55  And I'll put a link to that in the in the show notes.   Deborah Neher  24:58  Great.I have one other thing I wanted to do. mentioned that I tried it, because you mentioned about the process and what's going on in the windrows. So we tried another thing, there's different means of achieving this thermophilic pile, you can have a windrow, where you can be turning it or you might keep it if you're trying to save land space, you have aerobic static piles. ASP is another method, just forcing oxygen into that. And then so those are two methods. And then there's a type of vermi-composting, working with earthworms that can also be used. Now, the thing with earthworms if you get too hot, it'll kill the earthworm when we're trying to do compost that can be meet qualifications for certified organic, it has to be shown and demonstrated that you've reached the temperatures. Long story short is we came up with the same recipe and tried curing it three different ways through the windrow the ASP or the vermi-compost. Start the same recipe, different curing process, completely different fungal and bacterial communities. So when people say, oh, just throw stuff together, I'm like, No, you really need to think about designing that compost. It leads me to think that eventually we need some designer compost, some that are made unique for different applications. And there's also a need to have a little bit more standardization and labeling of these products. So a consumer knows what they're getting. If you're gonna pay more, you want to know you're getting something better. Yes. You know, than if you're going low bid.   Craig Macmillan  26:37  Yeah, exactly. And in the in the vineyard world, I've been very pleased to see the composters, at least in our in a separate press California, you know, being able to demonstrate their techniques and give you the analysis and allow you to compare products pick like well, what I'm looking for here is I'm looking for nitrogen in some form. Okay, here's an analysis of nitrogen, because I'm less interested in and I'm more interested in carbon in some form, what kind of books organic carbon, so we fortunately, we're getting some of that, you know, so we're getting there. But obviously, there's way more work to do, like you said, designer products for particular situations, particular paths. And it's exciting. I think we got a long way to go. But we're doing really well. And I think people just generally interested in compost has a really good thing. And they're interested in, in learning more, I think is there. I think a long time ago was a hay compost is good. Like that was it. You know, compost is good. And then as time has gone on, we've got more experience, we've learned, hey, I need to be a little bit more sophisticated than that. So we're kind of out of time. But is there one thing regard to soil health that you'd suggest to our listeners, if you want to prove the health of their sauce?   Deborah Neher  27:43  Well, I think to me two biggies for really improving soil health is you want to keep plants in the system, and especially perennial plants, and that applies very much to vineyards. That's, that's good and also to reduce the tillage. So if we can keep the ideas, keeping plant roots in there all the time, and reducing the tillage that's going to really favor a more robust, active, resilient soil community and thus better soil health.   Craig Macmillan  28:13  That is good advice. I think there's a lot more to talk about, which I would love to do. We'll see if we can do that in the future of there's so much going on here. Where can people find out more about you?   Deborah Neher  28:23  Well, I will provide some links, you know, that will be available to you at the podcast site, some links there. I also have a personal web page that I make available, my various references as well. If you just search by name on Google, you'll find me everywhere.   Craig Macmillan  28:40  Yes, I noticed that. And yeah, I've got we will have a link to the lab, the near lab webpage as well, some other things and then a ton of links to various articles, podcasts, chapters. You've done a great job of getting out there. I really appreciate that a lot of folks do work kind of in a closet. And you very much had been doing some extension work and getting the findings out there.   Deborah Neher  29:01  My father would always ask me, well, what good is this for me? So it always kept me thinking I owe everything I learned in do I need to come back around and think about the application.   Craig Macmillan  29:13  I want to thank our guest, Dr. Deborah Neher, Professor of Plant and Soil Science at the University of Vermont.   Transcribed by https://otter.ai

Every grower has different needs depending on their crops and location. In this episode of The Dirt, Nutrien Senior Agronomist Dr. Cristie Preston discusses the 4Rs and how growers can increase efficiency and profitability by using the program. To learn more about the 4Rs visit 4rfarming.org or visit nutrien-eKonomics.com

In this episode, host Jennie Love is joined by farmer Matt Arthur of BLH Farm to dive into bokashi and worm farming at a scale that can actually provide a large volume of high-quality compost and castings for a small farm.  If you've struggled with making compost on your farm or finding well-aged, herbicide-free compost locally, bokashi could be the solution you've been searching for!   An anerobic fermentation process, bokashi does not require a carbon source and takes a fraction of the time to produce finished compost that the more widely-known and used areobic compost pile does.  Listen as Matt explains why and how.  Originally farming flowers, Matt has diversified his business in recent years to include a paid food waste collection service for his local community to support his larger-scale bokashi operation. And that bokashi operation produces high-quality feedstock for his worm operation!  He sells castings and worms locally and nationwide.  Matt's inspirational system is very do-able for just about any farm and requires no large equipment.  Find Matt on Instagram @blh_farm and at his website: https://blhfarm.com/ In this show, Matt mentions 96 gallon "rollers".  Here's a link to a video showing how to convert one for bokashi as well as where to buy the components.  Matt also mentioned EM-1.  Here's a link to where to purchase it: https://tinyurl.com/musry4hh Coming up on October 28th, 2022, there will be an in-person No-Till Flowers Field Day at Jennie's regenerative flower farm in Philadelphia.  Click here to register.  If you enjoy the content you hear on this podcast, consider joining the Regenerative Flower Farmers Network (RFFN), a community of like-mind growers who put the ecosystem at the forefront of their farms.  It's just the price of a fancy latte to join for the whole year! Members get special access to podcast guests and other exclusive content.  Matt will be answering questions about bokashi and worms live on RFFN in November.  PLEASE RATE AND REVIEW THIS PODCAST WHEREVER YOU ARE LISTENING: this helps us grow our aduience!   Follow @notillflowers on Instagram for lots of content about regenerative flower farming.    

It's October, the year is almost over! Phoebe and Luke compete to see who can go over the month's tasks, using whatever metric they feel is the best way to declare themselves the winner. They then discuss current activities. Upcoming meetings: Introduction to Irrigation Management series to be held in Madera (Nov 7), Bakersfield (Nov 14), and Modesto (Nov 16). Best Management Practices for Soil Health to be held at the Kearney Ag Center in Parlier (Nov 16). Missed Luke's cankinar? Luckiily there's a recording Available: https://youtu.be/p4JwrMGKros This webinar features UC plant pathologists Florent Trouillas and Themis Michailides discussing the latest best management practices for almond and prune cankers, respectively. Their two talks are followed up with extensive Q&A from growers on how to best protect and preserve trees for long-term orchard success! Thank you to the Almond, Pistachio, Prune, and Walnut Boards of California for their kind donations. Thank you to Muriel Gordon for the music.The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed are the speaker's own and do not represent the views, thoughts, and opinions of the University of California. The material and information presented here is for general information purposes only. The "University of California" name and all forms and abbreviations are the property of its owner and its use does not imply endorsement of or opposition to any specific organization, product, or service.

Check out our new Patreon page! Get access to the Boundless Body Radio Premium Podcast, with a new episode added every other week! Other perks include early releases of our episodes, extended video content, and group and one on one coaching!Sara Keough is a returning guest on our show! Be sure to check out her first appearance on our podcast on episode 233 of Boundless Body Radio! Sara Keough MS, CNS, LDN, is an “Eco-Nutritionist” who began her career in ecological work in her home state of Colorado and now practices full-time as a clinical nutritionist in Maryland. She supports patients with a wide variety of health conditions including digestive issues, autoimmune disorders, heart disease, diabetes, and cancer. Educating patients on the value of nutrient dense foods from local farmers is vitally important in her practice as this is an essential component of the healing process for each and every patient. By utilizing advanced functional testing for her patients, Sara is able to identify key nutrient deficiencies in order to get to the root cause of their conditions. Sara is passionate about connecting her patients with local farms to source their food, as she truly believes that regenerative farmers are the real healers of the planet and play a pivotal role in restoring human and ecological health.Find Sara at-https://www.eco-nutrition.com/sara@eco-nutrition.comThe Artificial Animals SeriesSpecial love to-Our interview with Nicolette Hahn Niman!Nourishment by Fred Provenzahttps://understandingag.com/https://regenerationinternational.org/Allan Savory's Ted TalkWhite Oak Pastures Beef Reduces Atmospheric CarbonKiss The Ground DocumentaryThe Biggest Little Farm DocumentarySacred Cow DocumentaryFind Boundless Body at-myboundlessbody.comBook a session with us here! 

In this episode we talk about the challenge of getting cover crops implemented in a system, and highlight how barley can be a helpful crop in overcoming some of these challenges. You're going to hear from two guests today: Dr. Dave Franzen, soil scientist with NDSU Extension, and Jason Hanson, crop consultant and owner of Rock & Roll Agronomy. Dr. Franzen shares about the challenges of getting cover crops established in a corn/soybean rotation in North Dakota. “If you just look at the corn and soybean rotation, the opportunity to grow some kind of a cover crop is pretty low in this region. But with barley, you're taking it off early in the season. You often have two months time for you to grow a cover crop. And it's not unusual to grow a ton of dry matter with rye or oats and or radish or just leaving the barley as a volunteer and using that as the grass, which is to me, the cheapest thing to do. So that's a big win.” - Dr. Dave Franzen Unfortunately, every year we see soil from farmer's fields blowing away. Dr. Franzen has been studying the impacts of barley added into these rotations, and says he can confidently answer the question on whether or not it can help the soil health. Jason echoes this solution and introduces us to one of his farmers' fields of barley and how they're approaching their management and soil health. Jason says that going no till is definitely an option for some of his farmers, but others don't want to go down that road. He points out that even for those who have to work the field, there are options for minimizing disturbance. “It's all part of a system that you gotta sit and look back and look at your rotation, your farmer, his equipment, how the harvest is gonna go. I guess that's the fun part and the challenge. It's not easy…. It's like if we do this, we have to think ahead of time as to what we want to do.” - Jason Hanson Follow the link www.NDFieldCheck.com to participate in our next question and answer segment to share your questions and get them answered by the experts! Connect with Soil Sense at Soil Sense Initiative Soil Sense Podcast is hosted by Tim Hammerich of the Future of Agriculture Podcast.

Sean M. Smukler joins the podcast today to discuss soil health and sustainable agriculture. Sean is the Principal Investigator of the SAL lab, and Associate Professor and Chair of Agriculture and Environment in Land and Food Systems at the University of British Columbia. Sean realized at an early age that he thoroughly enjoyed working with plants and soil. After studying ecology at UC Davis and the University of Washington, Sean has focused his research on managing agriculture to enhance soil productivity for future generations. Offer: Increased stress is linked with teeth grinding and clenching, which causes poor sleep, jaw pain and headaches. But did you know that 1 in every 4 adults grind or clench their teeth while sleeping? A Remi Custom Night Guard can protect your teeth from grinding and clenching, while saving you hundreds of dollars compared to the dental office. Use code GUARD20 for 20% off your order. Visit ShopRemi.com now. In this episode, you will learn about: Challenges that researchers are seeing with soil health, and the solutions that may be out there. The factors that contribute to poor soil health, and how farmers can mitigate these issues. What healthy soil really looks like. Soil health is a complex and intriguing subject to explore – and it affects more than you may think… Listen now to find out how soil is being preserved so that our agricultural systems can effectively and sustainably produce food and fuel! To find out more about Sean Smukler and his work, click here! Episode also available on Apple Podcast: http://apple.co/30PvU9C