Soil School: Does organic matter really matter?

[@giojared]

Yes!!! It is not about feeding the plants, it is about feeding the soil life! Great video!

[@MattMurrah]

Love this video. As a home gardener, these same principles apply. Love the science approach! Thanks!!!

[@Infiniti25]

Hi, would you be able to share some of the ways to help make a strong clay based soil more useful over say 10 years. I have ducks but they seems to have destroyed grass and compacted my soil. They are now confined to free ranging the top garden. Without grass the soil has started to be just a deep sludge which forms surface puddles in less than an hour whenever there’s rain. My uncle has told me I need to get about 10yon of grit sand and 5mm or less diameter pebbles/stones in to aid drainage and open the clay up. Is he close to being right? Is he missing anything? Your thoughts please if you can spare time?

[@FarmerTed]

In general organic matter is good for retention of nutrients and water retention, but in some crops it is a detriment. Many produce crops (melons,tomatoes,potatoes etc) do better commercially in low organic matter soils due to less disease pressure. That’s why many produce growers will only rent sand ground under irrigation for their crops.

[@inigomontoya8943]

Good point but it sounds like their management or inputs are throwing off the microbial balance. Check out “creating disease suppressive soils”

[@guardiangrains1689]

I like the “resilience” definition reference. High organic matter (carbon) will defiantly aid in our crops playing defense against pest, disease and nutrient deficiencies both micro and macro.

[@vishaljadhavar2489]

Organic matter is the soul of soil

[@serveramirov9984]

Great conversation!

[@HashPhantom]

"Yes" is the answer

[@scottschaeffer8920]

If anybody questions the merits of this discussion-why do prairie soils always outperform other soils? She alludes to this. It would nice if we could figure out how to make hay, oats, green manure, etc in the rotation more profitable!

[@fernandomoncho6330]

We are working in the same topic in Argentina, and we see the same results. We have to grow organic mater and be proud of soil microorganisms

[@dinosaur0073]

Great questions & great answers....I have learn alot...thank you.

[@frederickoch3128]

The old civilized Amazon ppl used to add charcoal to the land. With that it holds water and nutrients. That would be a good start

[@sonsofliberty3081]

Wood ash and charcoal raise the ph. We say it "sweetens" the ground.

[@wvhaugen]

I add small charcoal from the wood stove to my compost pile. I activate it by pouring my urine on it. (Many people forget about activating the biochar.) This is the first year of doing this, but so far it seems like my compost is ready quicker. I do cold composting.

[@wvhaugen]

I like the stover straw idea. I have been doing that for years.

[@shexdensmore]

Have they done any studies with making and applying different types of biochar?

[@bloodofpanjab1995]

Realy information knowledge Thanks ❤

[@mattcraztex9940]

13:10 what about manure spreading each year and planting really deep rooted crops like tillage radish followed by lots of sunflowers for crop residue? pretty easy to turn a garden into a organic matter utopia.

[@zeusmacafee5097]

Well first off corn has more residue than sunflowers, and you grow a crop you need a market and there really isn’t one for sunflowers

[@mattcraztex9940]

@@gfgf2417 It's still profitable, have you seen just a few acres farms? he is a small farmer with livestock. It's just that farmers want to have more land to get higher profits. Also the current climate favours larger farms.

[@mattcraztex9940]

@@zeusmacafee5097 depends where you live. Sunflowers are deep rooted, they have a very large root ball and produce a lot of thick organic matter when broken down.+ they are great a sheltering the ground.

[@zeusmacafee5097]

@@mattcraztex9940 Agreed but first the vast part of America there is little to no market for sunflowers. And I’ve grown the, just on a sub acre scale before and the residue doesn’t come close to corn. I can see almost all the ground with sunflowers while corn residue I see none. Plus corn robots go deeper as well

[@mattcraztex9940]

@@zeusmacafee5097 I agree, but corn is a very demanding crop that can't really break up compaction as the roots get stubbed. Where as i have seen sunflower roots punch right throu it. Downside being yea corn dose have more residue and also more market share then sunflower. But sunflowers are a lot more healthier for the soil structure.

[@TheNewMediaoftheDawn]

Yes, otherwise you just have minerals left and that would be a dessert... Organic matter holds water, feeds plants, releases humic acid to dissolve minerals and holds soil biology, let us hope and pray most farmers shift to building more of it in the next ten years...

[@shaneplath2277]

Great video, big thanks from SA organic banana farmer.

[@lesterhersh7184]

Is this true also in rice paddies

[@cryptotheonly6216]

Love this

[@devbachu7072]

Did i heard you speak about soil mircombes into the soil

[@brucedownunda7054]

"Resilience" in short supply in a Monsanto World depleted of Natural Resistance.

[@aabb-xt8kl]

I have heard that SOM of Bec Helloiun Farm, France is 26% and that of Amazon forests is 20%, are these both true ?

[@FarmerTed]

I call BS, the parts of the Amazon I’ve seen is very sandy and some of the poorest soils in the world!

[@donready119]

Can't answer the exact question but this is from wikipedia: Soils whose upper horizons consist of less than 1% of organic matter are mostly limited to deserts, while the SOM content of soils in low lying, wet areas can be as great as 90%

[@davidschmidt270]

@@FarmerTed well farmer Ted... I'm just speculating here but maybe it's because they're not utilising the same farming techniques they once used???

[@billastell3753]

In a forest it really depends how deep you test because it isn't mixed up with the substrate. The top several inches is almost 100% organic.

[@devbachu7072]

Very well love it the best organic grown

[@perlovaya]

i heard mature alfalfa plants will not let new seeded plants grow could someone explain?

[@RealAgricultureMedia]

Yes. Alfalfa has an allelopathic effect on new alfalfa seeds -- stopping them from growin.

[@RealAgricultureMedia]

Other species are fine, but do have to compete against strong, established plants

[@lesterhersh7184]

How do you measure organic matter

[@zeusmacafee5097]

Soil test

[@robertreznik9330]

I have used sulfuric acid to oxidize the carbon and titrate the remaining solution.

[@NRay-bt2kj]

In my home garden, I put a shovel full of soil in a clear jar and fill it with water. Let it settle and the organic matter will rise to the top.

[@robertreznik9330]

@@NRay-bt2kj You are measuring plant material. Organic matter is fully decomposed plants or animals. It takes SOM years to be mineralized. In a field it has a half life of 25 years or so and is 55% carbon.

[@robertreznik9330]

@@NRay-bt2kj What simple compounds are you describing as being taken up by plants as food? To me organic compounds are compounds containing carbon.

[@saadnarejo922]

very informative

[@AYOGAgriVenture]

Well said.thanks

[@tomgregoryovo]

#biochar

[@hallpaintandbody7717]

Dang, it will take years to reverse some clay soil I have. I see this, I'll have to add tons of sicks, grass clippings ect. And let it set

[@johnryan1287]

What % of organic matter is compost? I'm thinking 100% organic matter. So if you mix 100% organic matter into say, 1 % organic matter at half and half? In other words, add 20 inches to a depth of 20 inches, wouldn't that give you 50% organic matter? What am I missing here?

[@Abdullah-london]

I'm assuming they are talking about very large areas of land.

[@robertreznik9330]

I learned in soils class that each % SOM has 2 CEC

[@diceportz7107]

So pray tell, why is every farmer in my area tiling the heck out of every field? This is so counter intuitive to me. It doesn't matter if it is hillside or valley or flat plain. They are also taking every stream underground. 😢😢

[@NRay-bt2kj]

My understanding is that they till because if the top of compacted soil gets rain, but then dries out, the surface crusts over and the germinated seed can't break through and dies. They have lost their window for planting.

[@diceportz7107]

@@NRay-bt2kj I was commenting on TILE not Till. You know that underground piping system that drains water?

[@diceportz7107]

@@NRay-bt2kj cool. That is really all that matters, that we keep on learning.

[@ericshoemake6090]

Lol lady corn does not like to be transplanted

[@MrMawnster]

Well I want a zero till drill...I can see the benefit even for my very small ranch ( I use corn to graze besides my perennial crops)...but I can't afford one, so expensive to buy right now

[@101thecasey]

Late reply but you can normally rent a no till drill from your local Soil and Water Conservation extension for a decent rate. Price and availability will vary based on location but that could be a good resource if you don't have the cash to buy a new or used drill.

[@robertpayne2717]

If you're not trying to leave and add green manures/covercrops on the suface you're just a dirt farmer, you're creating dirt not soil!!!

[@robertreznik9330]

All food is organic. With the exception of Star Trek where the food is made in the simulator.

[@harshalshah4685]

Its called a Replicator. Everything is recycled ♻️. EVERYTHING.

[@1611K_J_B]

How about not telling the problems but telling the solutions to the problems 🤔

[@deanpahl8591]

I can't see where relying on chemicals is any advantage, nothing has all the answers, we do know that polluting our soil with chemicals is not a viable situation.

[@SumitSharma-cg7pt]

Yes 👍... You said it right

[@farmermatt629]

Well what Do you suggest? You can’t really bash something without giving viable option..... wouldn’t you agree? I’m all ears

[@deanpahl8591]

@@farmermatt629 I am not sure what to do, what we are doing now will not work forever, it has shown that the weeds are developing a resistance to chemicals, Mares tail for example. If this continues we are going to have a bigger problem. What would you suggest?

[@farmermatt629]

@@deanpahl8591 a good start would be to not short your herbicide program... resistance comes from cutting rates and letting weeds get to big.... all problems that can be solved... unfortunately some farms are greedy or unable to spend the money... maybe getting a fair price for crops would help... unfortunately small farms can’t survive with government regulations and cheap food policys... and we continue to look to government and universities to solve our problems... their policy’s have failed farmers time and time again...

[@deanpahl8591]

@@farmermatt629 I farm organically, I have been able to raise 56 bu. beans, at that rate why do I need to use chemicals? My brother worked for the Co- OP running their floater spraying, he got in the hospital sick, of the chemicals he used he had 17 of them in his blood.

[@microsoilenhancersinspirey5750]

So she is not completely true on the organic matter...bio mass is on top of the ground, organic matter is the carbon in the soil which comes from decaying roots along with living roots pumping in liquid carbon through photosynthesis...

[@leelindsay5618]

And this guest once again contradicts herself and the data she just presented when talking about how fast organic matter can form. There are examples where people have improved 1+% every year from year one. Sigh.

[@Abdullah-london]

Do you you have links to any video or article?

[@nonyadamnbusiness9887]

This woman needs to learn how to pronounce "stalks".