Resources

American Dairy Association North East facilitated a presentation for the virtual Chesapeake Watershed Forum – “Healthy Farms, Soils and Waterways” by retired dairy farmer Leroy Bupp of the Pennsylvania No-Till Alliance and Soil Health Coordinator for Stroud Water Research Center, Lisa Blazure.  “ADA North East has been instrumental in helping develop positive relationships with environmental groups, and I’m glad to have a seat at the table,” said Leroy Bupp. “It’s important for farmers to understand the value of being involved in the conversations, and to establish open dialogue since we’re all part of the agricultural community.” By following recommended conservation practices, farmers can maximize crop yields while minimizing impact to their land and the environment.

Living Soil: A Documentary Our soils support 95 percent of all food production, and by 2060, our soils will be asked to give us as much food as we have consumed in the last 500 years. They filter our water. They are one of our most cost-effective reservoirs for sequestering carbon. They are our foundation for biodiversity. And they are vibrantly alive, teeming with 10,000 pounds of biological life in every acre. Yet in the last 150 years, we’ve lost half of the basic building block that makes soil productive. The societal and environmental costs of soil loss and degradation in the United States alone are now estimated to be as high as $85 billion every single year. Like any relationship, our living soil needs our tenderness. It’s time we changed everything we thought we knew about soil. Let’s make this the century of living soil. This 60-minute documentary features innovative farmers and soil health experts from throughout the U.S. Accompanying lesson plans for college and high school students will can also be found on this site. "Living Soil" was directed by Chelsea Myers and Tiny Attic Productions based in Columbia, Missouri, and produced by the Soil Health Institute through the generous support of The Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation. The film is freely available to download and stream at www.livingsoilfilm.com. A special thanks to Dawn Bradley, Brian Berns, Keith Berns, Bill Buckner, Mimo Davis, Dan DeSutter, Miranda Duschak, James “Ooker” Eskridge, Barry Fisher, Liz Graznak, Steve Groff, Jerry Hatfield, Trey Hill, Larkin Martin, Bianca Moebius-Clune, Jesse Sanchez, Larry Thompson, John Wiebold, Kristen Veum, Kevin Mathein, Ben Harris, Tim Pilcher, Josh Wright, Haley Myers, Rob Myers and Josh Oxenhandler.

Gabe Brown, Allen Williams and Neil Dennis were all going out of business with their conventional grazing – then nature forced their hand to try grazing without chemicals because they couldn’t afford them anymore. They are now the pioneers in regenerative grazing – replacing the specter of bankruptcy with resiliency. These ranchers regenerate their soils which makes their animals healthier and their operations more profitable. Robust soils enable rainwater to sink into the earth rather than run off; and retain that water, so the ranches are much more resilient in drought. Filmed in Starkville, Mississippi: Bismarck, North Dakota; Wawona, Saskatchewan, Canada

“I’ve read countless articles and books about soils, listened to a host of speakers holding forth about soils, but I don’t think I’ve ever heard a more inspiring or enjoyable soil life presentation than from Doug Weatherbee. Who could ever imagine that soils could be presented in a hybrid sit-com, sci-fi, who-dun-it theatrical production? Thank you, Doug, for making us all appreciate afresh the intricate, dynamic, awesome world of soil. If Doug is on the speaking roster, it’s worth going to the conference just to hear his dynamic presentation.” Joel Salatin, Polyface Farm 2013 Learn how beneficial soil microbes can provide soluble nutrients and plant disease suppression to your farm or garden. Go to http://soildoctor.org for more information and please sign up for my mailing list to hear about more videos and other information. Photo credit on the Protozoa side with 3 photos: Tim Wilson

These time-lapse movies show the behaviour of three different earthworm species. We intended to show the difference in feeding- and burrowing behaviour of the three species, all of which are common in Western Europe as well as many other parts of the world. With respect to feeding, we were really able to show the differences: it is clear that A. caliginosa, a so-called “endogeic” earthworm, feeds on soil organic matter and hardly touches the leaves, whereas both other species feed mostly on the leaves, leaving almost nothing at the end of the experiment. In addition, it seems like L. rubellus also forages on fungi growing on the decomposing leaves - note that especially during the first half of the timelapse, the L. rubellus leaves look “cleaner”, largely lacking the bluish fuzziness of fungi growing on them. With respect to burrowing behaviour, A. caliginosa also shows the natural inclination of an endogeic earthworm: it digs many non-permanent borrows, and seems so content in its surroundings that it even starts mating. The footage of an adult worm carefully “tucking in” its freshly laid egg cocoon to ensure it is in good contact with the soil (and thereby preventing it from drying out) is the most exciting part of the whole movie. And, of course, after two months the cocoon hatches and there are baby earthworms! L. rubellus forages much on the surface, but seems to have only few permanent burrows deeper in the soil. This is perhaps not surprising, because L. rubellus is often not regarded fully “epigeic” (which would require it to stay mostly in the litter layer rather than in the soil) but as having an intermediate strategy (“epi-endogeic”, or even “epi-anecic”. Finally, L. terrestris is a conventional “anecic” species, feeding on top but dragging its food into a deep, vertical and permanent burrow. As far as this is possible in a shallow mesocosm, L. terrestris indeed seems to display such behaviour. We can only guess how deep the earthworm would have dragged its food if it were able to dig deeper – in the field, depths up to a few meters have been reported for this species. On behalf of the Soil in Action team, J.W. van Groenigen, I.M. Lubbers More about the importance of earthworms: https://weblog.wur.eu/spotlight/less-fertiliser-thanks-to-earthworms/ and: https://twitter.com/jwvangroenigen This movie can be used in classrooms and for lectures. For other use please contact: egmond(at)tip.nl visit https://wimvanegmond.com © Wim van egmond 2021

In a fix? Dynamic Cropping Systems result in improved yields, better soil health researchers say Fixed crop rotations have many benefits, but is there an even better approach? “Yes,” say scientists at USDA’s Northern Great Plains Research Lab in Mandan, North Dakota. Based on years of research, farmers who harness the benefits of diversity through a Dynamic Cropping System, rather than a fixed rotation, fared better than those who farm using fixed rotations. Find out why a Dynamic Cropping System (verses a fixed rotation 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!

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. In the Virginia NRCS, JB Daniel, Forage and Grassland Agronomist and Chris Lawrence, Cropland Agronomist make extensive use of the rainfall simulator as a teaching tool. JB and Chris were both key to the making of Virginia NRCS's video series, "gaining Ground" where successful no-till farmers and graziers told their stories. Learn more about soil health: http://www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/nrcs/main/national/soils/health/

Why insects are important with soil health

Chesapeake Bay Foundation Senior Agriculture Program Manager Bill Chain in Pennsylvania drops some knowledge about damaging polluted runoff and CBF's rainfall simulator at the Pennsylvania Farm Show.