soil building

8/6/2019 Soil Building

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Soil Building"The nation that destroys its soil

destroys itself" (Roosevelt 1937)



Outline

• Soil Conservation

• Elements of Healthy Soil

• Why and How We Lose Soil

• Building Soil

• Why do We Lose Soil?

• Steps for Building New Soil• Cameron

• Summery



What is Soil Conservation?

• Using techniques and

practices that prevent

the loss of soil.

• Using Techniques and

practices to promote

the creation of new

soil.i



What is Soil Conservation?

Why is soil conservation so important?

• “The most meaningful indicator for the health of the land, and the long-term wealth of a nation, iswhether soil is being formed or lost.” - ChristineJones

• Today the U.S.A.'s biggest export, in tons anddollar value, is eroding topsoil



Elements of Healthy Soil

• Minerals

• Air

• Water • Living things

– Plant roots

– Microorganisms

– Insects

– Worms

• Organic material produced by living things



Elements of Healthy Soil

• Interactions take place between all of these

elements.

• All elements are necessary.

• If any of these elements are missing then

healthy soil will be destroyed.



Building New Soil

• “In order for new soil to form, it must be

living. Life in the soil provides the structure

for more life, and the formation of moresoil.” - Christine Jones



Building New Soil

• Building new topsoil is much like building

a house (Bushby 2002).

– Must be comfortable for it’s occupants

– Requires

• Roof

• Walls• Good plumbing

• Airy rooms



Building New SoilRoof

The roof of a healthy soil is the groundcover of

plants and plant litter

•Regulates temperature

• Improves water infiltration (intake)

• Reduces evaporation

•

Protects living organisms from ultraviolet rays(sun)



Building New SoilWalls

The building materials for the walls are gums and polysaccharides produced by soil microbes.

• Sticky material glue together minerals into clumps called aggregates.

• The aggregates are glued together to form pods (larger clumps)

• These pods create spaces, the rooms of the house,.

• allows the soil to breath

• Allows faster water absorbtion

• Healthy topsoil should be half solid material and half space.



Building New SoilRooms

The walls form spacious structures that will:

• make it easier for plant roots to grow

• allow small soil invertebrates to move around.

• help soils retain the moisture necessary for

– microbial activity

– nutrient cycling and – vigorous plant growth

– reduce soil erosion.



Why do We Lose Soil?

“Unfortunately, soil structure is very fragile and soil

aggregates are continually being broken down

(Bushby 2001). An ongoing supply of energy inthe form of carbohydrates from actively growing

plant roots and decomposing plant litter is

required, so that soil organisms can flourish and

produce adequate amounts of the sticky secretionsrequired to maintain the 'house’” - Christine Jones




There are several ways soilstructure can be damaged.These include:

• Over tilling• Over use of chemicals

• Fertilizers

• Herbicides

• Pesticides• Fungicides

• Overgrazing




• The breakdown of soil

structure can result in the

lose of nutrients, moisture

content, air, and livingorganisms.

• The result is dead, dry,

unprotected soil

• This soil is then prone to

water and wind erosion



Steps to Building New Soil

• To build and maintainhealthy topsoil you need: – Living soil

– Perennial (year round)lground cover.

• Ground cover

• Green manure

– Periodic disturbance of the

top layer.• Conservation tillaing

• Grazing - high intensity periodically



Steps to Building New Soil

Here is one process.

• 1. Seed the area with a suitable seed mix.

• 2. Feed livestock hay on the seeded area. They will eat

some of the hay and trample the rest into the ground alongwith their manure, thus providing food for soil microbes.

• 3. Wait for plants to establish (grow)

• 4. Regraze periodically for short periods. Allowadequate recovery periods between grazings.

• 5. Monitor the results and adjust your management asneeded.



Cameron

• Located in the lower Great

Plains

• Grasses are predominant

(main) vegetation

• Ranching is the chief

(main)agricultural product

(farming output)



Cameron

• Drought conditions

• Sandy soil being

blown away



Summery

“The building of new topsoil depends on us,

and our future depends on building new

topsoil. This is the greatest challenge facingmodern agriculture.” - Christine Jones



Resources

• http://managingwholes.com/newtopsoil.htmSpecial thanks to Christine Jones and her article How to build new

topsoil

http://managingwholes.com/newtopsoil.htm

http://managingwholes.com/newtopsoil.htm

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