Growing a Revolution: Bringing Our Soil Back to Life - David Montgomery

One of the key lessons of history is as simple as it is stark: where the soil became degraded, communities and even whole countries failed and disappeared. Visits to farmers around the world show how innovative farmers combining farming practices from the past with modern science are at the vanguard of a soil health revolution that could reverse the ancient trend and bring humanity’s ailing soil back to life remarkably fast. Combining previously popular practices of cover crops and diversified crop rotations with modern methods of no-till planting cultivates beneficial soil life and allows using less production costs, such as less diesel, fertilizers, or pesticides. These practices are good for farmers and the environment. Regenerative practices that build soil organic matter translate into farms that use less water, have less soil and nutrient loss, and build soil organic matter while using less fossil fuel to maintain crop yields, build soil health, and improve farmers’ bottom lines.
This presentation is part of the 2017 National Conference on Cover Crops and Soil Health. Slide presentations and additional conference information is available at www.sare.org/covercropconferen....
Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) provides grants and outreach to advance innovations that improve profitability, stewardship and quality of life. SARE is supported by the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, USDA.

[@paulasnatural]

I simply cover my beds with plain brown cardboard, grass clippings and leaves, supplement with natural veggie compost waste from my kitchen. My veggies grow like crazy .🤗💕🌱

[@cracklypete]

Coverage is coverage

[@maxsmith695]

Gardening is simple. Making it complicated is when it is time to mute.

[@wwsuwannee7993]

Very articulate, easily understandable, no opinions without back up, hardly any 'umms' or 'ahhs', ( I hate that in a speaker ). Good flow of information, and quickly to the point, ( no one wants to hear where you got married , or how old your son is etc. ) Very good speaker. Also he is right. Thank you to whoever posted this video.

[@nightoftheworld]

WW Suwannee unless you’re a geologist married to a biologist talking about a book y’all wrote heh

[@b_uppy]

Umms and ahhs are distracting, but I'll overlook them if the info is too good to ignore. This guy has less practical knowledge than Brandt does...

[@maxsmith695]

@@b_uppy - guessing he hires someone to cut his lawn.

[@nightoftheworld]

33:31 "So we see this transformation of our yard, we see our organic matter disappearing we don't know what's going on here, so we dig into it and we realize that there's this zone around the root zone of a plant. It's called the *rhizosphere,* _that is one of the most life-rich zones on the planet._ You wanna go find a whole lot of microbes, dig around the root zone of a healthy plant-they're surrounded by microorganisms, much more-so than at distance from roots. And a big part of what's going on there is something that our eyes were opened to in researching this book, and that is: what we were taught in terms of what plant roots do is only half the story-because we learned that plant roots are essentially straws that help facilitate acquisition of nutrients from the soil." "But they also push stuff out into the soil, things called *exudates,* which many of you have probably heard of and _which consist of things like sugars, carbohydrates._ You know plants have a monopoly on being able to turn carbon dioxide (CO2) and water (H2O) into carbohydrates and they have this wonderful side-effect of pushing oxygen (O) into the atmosphere (which we all appreciate) but they also build a botanical world that way-they have a monopoly on being able to do that. They will push out up to about 30-40% (some plants) of the material they build through photosynthesis, they'll push it out of their roots, into the soil, as exudates-they exude it into the soil.. and what are those materials? It's the carbohydrates, the sugars that I mentioned, it's also proteins, they'll do hormones, but last year there was a paper that came out where people _documented plants pushing fats (lipids) out into the soil."_ "What are carbohydrates, proteins and fats? _That's food,_ lunch, breakfast, dinner; it's food basically-plants are pushing food out into the soil and they're not doing it simply because they have too much food, they're doing it to feed those microbes in the soil. Those microbes, the reason that the rhizosphere is such a life-dense zone is not because pests and pathogens are gathering to attack plants-they're gathering because the plants are setting a subterranean buffet for microbes."

[@beldengi]

Even in a small domestic garden plot there is a big challenge to improve soils. I find it to be one of the most interesting parts of gardening.

[@svetlanikolova7673]

COMPOST AND MULCH EVERY FALL. LET NATURE DO The WORK FOR YOU!

[@leelindsay5618]

One of the best ways to improve soils is to stop tilling, fluffing, forking, etc. So many people are convinced that breaking up soil is somehow helpful.

[@larrysiders1]

In 8 years I've seen a garden plot in a suburb with only 1-2" of topsoil evolve into beautiful lush soil 6-8 inches deep. No Till...2" top composting to start...then cover cropping without tilling it in. Leave the microorganisms alone (no till) then feed them with plants (cover cropping). Plants don't deplete the soil (unless you carry them all away)...they feed energy and nutrients that microorganisms use to enrich the soil...and then the microbes unlock micronutrients that strengthen crop plants...and us.

[@ianutube22]

Thanks for these quotes. This is absolutely incredible.

[@wendyscott8425]

I've just been learning about all this for the past couple of weeks. It's so amazing and just seems so right on all counts. This is a great presentation. The books sound pretty terrific as well.

[@russellsmith3825]

Excellent book, I have it on audible, have listened to it 3 times

[@joonimism]

You nailed it. Great emphasis on living soil and conservation agriculture.

[@portiaholliday8741]

This is an excellent review of a plants micro-physiology!

[@biap4765]

everything in this 🗣 🗣 . im ready to be change.

[@pomegranate6221]

Zach Bush MD.... GMOs Engineering the nature out of humanity...a must watch!!

[@almacigo2]

Good educational talk. I totally agree that we need to care more about soils and practice the 3 main principles pointed in this talk (43:06). One thing that I think is missing in the comparison between Brandt Farm and its neighbor (53:17) is the cost of the cover crop seed, cover crop planting, and the termination if not winter kill species (I think I see grasses in the cover crop mix). Adding that cost would still keep Brandt at a net positive balance above the $300.

[@wendyscott8425]

From what I've heard, cover crop seed is pretty cheap compared to pesticides, herbicides, fungicides, and fertilizer. Then they can harvest their own seeds eventually, and it hardly costs anything.

[@jobro6779]

@@wendyscott8425 Clearly, you are not a farmer!

[@wendyscott8425]

@@jobro6779 I never claimed to be one. Are you?

[@b_uppy]

@@jobro6779 She is right about harvesting cover crop seeds. The reductions costs associated with the usage of the chemicals also applies to reduced PPE expenses, education and insurance related to spraying, etc. Chem ag is extremely expensive. That is the point of it, for chemical companies. They are selling an illusion of profitability, at many costs.

[@b_uppy]

Actually it's probably rye, rather than any old grass.

[@forgoodnessache5399]

Love and agree with the diagnosis, analysis and "prescription" for agriculture moving forward into the 21st century. This revolution can't happen (globally) quickly enough. One tiny, picky correction: on Brandt's Farm in Ohio, Montgomery claims he used about 1/5 of the Round-up compared to the county average, yet the numbers were 1 quart/acre vs 2.5, which would be about 2/5, or 40%. Hopefully that number *does* come down to 1/5 (20%) and even lower. Glyphosate has to go.

[@b_uppy]

You noticed the disparity between the math and the figures quoted, as well. Its an improvement, over his neighbors, but it is still a lot, and the factor is substantially different. I hate glyphosate, too.

[@organicpiano]

GREAT information and an enthusiastic reminder about the importance of saving our soil. The challenge I see is to reverse the preponderance of GMO farming in this country. The system and tools used significantly reduced the "hard" labor usually associated with farming. If we reverse the present operations to a more sustainable approach, there will be a lot more labor involved. However, present day GMO farmers hardly ever have to get out of the tractor. Humans are a lazy lot and like any addiction, we are very slow to change our ways...especially when our comfort level is concerned. There would have to be a darn good reason. Perhaps saving the farm and earning a profit will be enough to sway the average conventional farmer...who right now, does not really give a hoot about soil health.

[@wendyscott8425]

Money talks, remember? From what I understand, regenerative farming gives the farmer a lot more of it. Also, I'm not so sure it requires more labor. If you don't have to plow and apply various chemicals to make your crops grow, that's labor you don't need to engage in.

[@billherrick3569]

Read all 3 books; excellent!!!!!!!!!!

[@lucaslopes8385]

Ernest Gotsch, this is the name, he create more than 300 hectares of soil in florest, the true is, to bring back soil, we need trees. He create the syntropic agriculture, to recreate forest.

[@whydontyouhandledeez]

45:26 _It ain't much, but it's honest work._

[@NWTejas]

Video 'starts' at 27:00

[@b_uppy]

Slash and burn works if you use the methods of South American Natives when they make "terra preta". They plant both annual and perennial crops, trees and shrubs, initially. The perennials, shrubs and Trees eventually take over the place. Not sure the math and figures regarding Brandt's place is adding up. Still better than most chem ag, but Brandt is using 1 quart RoundUp while his neighbors are using 2.5 quarts RoundUp per acre is different from saying Brandt is using 1/5th the RoundUp. The difference is off by half...

[@verdekal]

Check out Polyface Farm, Joel Saladin is the farmer and his wife is his partner. I follow a lot of these new farmers but Joel has been doing this for decades. By the way, keep up the good work.

[@wendyscott8425]

I hope Dave Brown is now de-integrating Roundup on his operation.

[@leelindsay5618]

Roundup has been removed from his farm for approx the last decade. There are talks where he does mention that the operation may occasionally use a less toxic herbicide, but it isn't Roundup nor is it used wholesale across the property nor every year is it used.

[@wendyscott8425]

@@leelindsay5618 Cool. I think I found that out since I posted this. :)

[@lux.s.cannabis]

We need a for dummies

[@roscorude]

Evolution? No En arche en ho logos...!

[@pomegranate6221]

" beating nature at her own game " loool ... SMH!