The Science of Soil Health Series Trailer
Buz made a cross-country trek to interview some of the nation's leading researchers and experts—in order to more fully understand the science of soil health.
The Science of Soil Health
Changing The Way We Think About Soil Microbes
In our germaphobic society today, the role of soil microorganisms is often grossly misunderstood -- to many of us, the only good bug is a dead bug. We join Dr. Kris Nichols in Mandan, North Dakota to talk about why we need change our thinking.
What Happens When You Till?
When we use tillage, the soil ecosystem is disturbed on a massive scale. Purdue's Dr. Eileen Kladivko contrasts natural ecosystems with tilled systems and describes what we stand to lose when soils are tilled.
Cover Crops and Moisture
No cropping system is drought proof, but there are things that farmers can do to mitigate the effects of a dry year. Dr. Chris Reberg-Horton discusses how cover crops affect water dynamics through the life-cycle of the cash crop.
Simulating Rainfall on Pastures
One of the marks of a healthy soil is good hydrologic function. But what does that look like? We joined JB Daniel on a farm in Virginia for an up-close and personal view of good and poor soil hydrologic function.
Understanding the Value of Legumes and Nitrogen-Fixing Microbes
Legumes in cash crops & cover crops use natural symbiotic relationships with rhizobia to get nitrogen into the soil. Dr. Julie Grossman is working to unlock the secrets in the soil & to provide farmers with new insights on how to harness this.
Compaction
What's the best way to restore compacted soil? Cover crops. We learn by imitating Mother Nature. Lesson 1: Mother Nature doesn't till.
Nightcrawlers and Soil Water Flow
When we get to those dry summer months, good soil hydrologic function is critical. We visited with Purdue University's Dr. Eileen Kladivko to talk about the remarkable effect night crawlers have on aiding water flow into and through soils.
Soil Feeds Plants, and Vice Versa
In the world of production agriculture our attention is only focused on what plants take out of the soil. But what if that's only half the story?
Fighting Plant Disease with Microbes
One of the critical functions of healthy soils is that they contain beneficial microbes that can enhance plant defense against disease, and sometimes against insects; our journey took us to Clemson's Dr. Geoff Zehnder to talk about his work.
Without Carrot or Stick
Planting cover crops enhances the soil’s ability to function as a nutrient recycler. Penn State’s Dr. Sjoerd Dulker talks about how dairy farmers in his state are using cover crops to improve their business – without regulations or subsidies.
The Weil Brassica Research Team
In South America, the no-till revolution had cover crops front and center. Whereas, in the United States the no-till revolution started out with cover crops. If you look at the old extension bulletins from the 70's, cover crops were recommended.
Precision Cover Cropping
When we think about precision farming, we're normally thinking about cash crops. But Dr. Joel Gruver from Western Illinois University is really taking cover crops to a whole new level.
Dynamic Cropping Systems
Find out why a Dynamic Cropping System may work better in the long-term for improving yields and soil health in the latest episode of NRCS’ The Science of Soil Health. Watch the three-minute video. It’s science you can really dig!
Systems in Agroecology
Healthy food, clean water, living soils and abundant wildlife are outcomes that the Dakota Lakes Research Farm wants to help producers achieve through their regenerative agriculture research. Dr. Dwayne Beck says it takes a systems approach.
Natural Systems and Weeds
Technology is a good thing, but according to Dr. Dwayne Beck, researcher and farm manager at Dakota Lakes Research Farm in South Dakota, it’s just another tool –not the only tool in the arsenal when farming with a systems approach.
A Short Field Trip with Dr. Beck
At the Dakota Lakes Research Farm in South Dakota, 20 inches of precipitation would be considered a great water year. But as, Dr. Buz Kloot found out recently, it’s not how much moisture you get—it’s how much moisture you keep.
Using Insects to Manage Pests
With an estimated 2 billion predator insects per acre, pests looking for lunch are more likely to become lunch, thanks to the ecological principles Dr. Dwayne Beck and his research team are rediscovering and refining.
Mimicking Nature in the Lab
Rick Haney became a big fan of the way nature does things. As a scientist with USDA’s Agricultural Research Service, his entire research program has been modeled on “how does nature do it, and can we mimic in the lab?"
Researcher’s “soil trek” concludes in final season of The Science of Soil Health
When Dr. Buz Kloot began his soil trek for “Unlock the Secrets in the Soil” campaign in September of 2013, he had no idea where his journey would ultimately go. Get a sneak preview of what’s in store for Season Three, in this one-minute video.
Cycle, Re-cycle, Repeat
Carbon’s journey through the soil powers life as we know it. As global temperatures rise, there’s growing interest in getting carbon dioxide (a greenhouse gas) out of the atmosphere and getting carbon into the soil.
Nature's Way of Extracting Minerals from Soil
Just when you thought soil microbes couldn’t possibly be more helpful, Dr. Will Brinton tells us they provide another, often overlooked benefit to plants. Microbes take in sugars from plant roots and respire carbon dioxide.
Going Deeper
The scientist who wrote the book on soils wants farmers to look deeper. Dr. Ray Weil, author of The Nature and Property of Soils, wants farmers to consider the soil’s nutrient and water-holding capacity below thetop 8-10 inches of soil.
Going Deeper, Part 2
In many parts of the country, there’s a reservoir of water and nutrients below our cropland’s “legacy plow-pan.” But that dense layer of soil virtually locks out most cash crops from reaching those resources.
Dynamic Soil Properties
Skye Wills wants farmers to realize their farms’ full production potential by understanding more about the dynamic properties of soil. Reducing and eliminating tillage, cover crops and diverse cropping rotations influence soil properties today.
Finale, Part 1
Filmmaker and researcher Buz Kloot revisits his multi-year, multi-interview, country-wide soil health trek and asks Dr. Ray Weil to characterize the forces behind the growing soil health movement.
Chapter 1 – Bringing the Science of Soil Health Home
Series host, Buz Kloot, Ph.D., introduces viewers to four key soil health principles which “brings the lessons of science of soil health home” in his five-part, The Science of Soil Health video mini-series.
Chapter 2 - Understanding the Basics: Buz's 'Fab-Five Facts of Healthy Soil'
Buz Kloot, Ph.D. tells farmers and gardeners about the five key lessons he’s learned on his episodic soil health trek across the country. Dr. Kloot discusses critical facts about the nature and properties of soils.
Chapter 3 - Minimize Disturbance, or "Do Not Disturb!"
Dr. Kloot reminds us that while farmers have historically used tillage to prepare seed beds and to control weeds, natural systems do not use tillage. Yet in those natural systems water infiltrates into the soil, plants grow & nutrients recycle.
Chapter 4 - The Great Cover Up: How Nature Protects and Enriches the Soil
Dr. Kloot explains how plant canopies or residues from cover crops and previously harvested cash crops provide a layer of “biomass,” which helps reduce weed pressure while lowering soil temperatures & providing the soil with a coat of “armor”.
Chapter 5 - Keep a Live Root in the Soil, or "A Radicle Idea"
Dr, Kloot explains that through the process of photosynthesis, plants convert carbon dioxide into carbohydrates – exuding a sizeable portion of those carbohydrates through the roots to feed microorganisms in the soil.
Chapter 6 - Mix it Up! Managing for Diversity
Buz Kloot, Ph.D. highlights the role of species diversity in nature, on the farm and in the garden. Kloot reminds viewers that to maintain a monoculture, growers “will need to spend an increasing amount of time, energy and money.”
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