Clay Pope has been involved with conservation in Oklahoma in one capacity or another, for years. Today, he is doing consulting with, among others, Redlands Community College assisting with its efforts in soil health. On January 19th, Redlands, in conjunction with other organizations involved in conservation research, will host a soil health field day at Darlington Chapel, the college’s agricultural facility Northeast of El Reno. He sat down with Radio Oklahoma Ag Network’s Farm Director Ron Hays today, to discuss the event and why producers should pay close attention to the health of their soil.
“You think about soil health and what it can mean and what the potential is as far as trying to restore the health of our soil and what we can do to increase both productivity and profitability through different land management practices,” Pope said. “If you stop and think about it - from initial plow-up, we’ve lost anywhere from 60 to 70, in some cases up to 90 percent of the organic matter out of our soils. Now why is that a big deal?”
Pope explains that it is the organic matter in soil that serves as the home to all the bugs, bacteria and fungi that reside under the surface. According to him, research has shown that disturbing the microbial community in the biosphere below the surface of the soil, so does the benefits they all provide become disrupted.
“That microbial community under the soil does things as far as maintaining the structure of the soil, increases pore space, increases the ability of the soil to hang on to moisture,” Pope said. “It also has a relationship with those plants that makes a more efficient nutrient uptake.”
He points out, too, citing a recent study that suggests if a farmer does not have a relatively healthy subsoil and is opting to fertilize their ground, up to 60 percent of that fertilizer will practically go to waste.
“If you’re not doing anything to improve the health of your soil, do yourself a favor,” Pope interjected, “don’t put down fertilizer.”
Still there are many more reasons to employ management practices that will improve soil health on your farm. In fact, sometimes, the means of doing this will coincide with other management practices to achieve other results. Pope says the things he promotes to improve soil health will also work to deter soil erosion.
Click here to see more...