Inputs alone can never result in true soil health — following the principles is the only real solution
We have entered the regenerative agriculture era. This is a time in which “soil health” is a familiar term among most of the agricultural industry. We are now approaching two decades since the phrase has superseded “soil quality.” Those who claim to practice regenerative agriculture believe they have a good understanding of what constitutes healthy soil.
Things seem to be heading in a good direction. We now have many commercial labs running various soil health tests that were not available even 10 years ago at an affordable price, and there is an abundance of funding being pumped into soil health for research and for farmer financial assistance. Conventionally trained agronomists are beginning to recommend soil health product lines and referring to themselves as “regenerative agronomists.”
But do agricultural professionals who have basic knowledge of soil health understand how to properly manage for it? Do they know exactly what it should look like, either with their eye or on a soil test? And do they have a proper understanding of not just “regenerative” inputs but of the principles that actually lead to soil health?
My concern is that the input-for-an-output game is simply continuing, albeit with fewer environmental consequences — although with a similar financial burden on the farmer. We have entered an era where there are more soil health products than ever before, where the markets have capitalized on the mainstream understanding that soil is alive and needs carbon. Many companies have developed bio-stimulants, or “bugs in a jug,” that they claim can supply the perfect little critters you need to optimize the health of your soil — and improve yields.
I believe, however, that we must stay on course and stay rooted to the foundational principles of what soil health really is and how to best manage for it. While, as mentioned, many have jumped on the soil health bandwagon, many farmers still question it. If the reluctant are not guided by those who have mastered the principles, and who know how to properly apply them within each farm’s context, then the soil health benefits will not be fully realized. Failure will be inevitable if farmers are guided by the idealism of a single practice or an input-based soil health program.
Nature provides the most abundant and efficient input system, and soil health is a discipline of stewardship, founded on a set of principles. Those who try and get too crafty with a deep pocketbook of inputs will find themselves chasing a goal that doesn’t exist.
The First Four Principles: Of Course!
There was a time, not too long ago, when the soil health pioneers had a relatively clear, consistent, and agreed upon understanding of the foundational processes that build soil health. Just twenty years ago there were not many people teaching how to farm for soil health — what we then called soil quality. Information was gained by experience, by coming into contact with a mentor, by attending a conference or weekend workshop, or reading an article or a book. For better or worse, social media and YouTube did not exist, and therefore a world of immense opinion as to how to build soil health did not exist at our fingertips.
Today, however, a farmer researching soil health on the internet can immediately get tossed down the rabbit hole of a myriad of passionate claims about things one must do to improve soil health or to boost crop yields “regeneratively.” We are told, for example, that biochar is the answer, that diverse cover crops are a must, or that the next best biological product is the one that will solve all our problems. Those new to the field might not even stumble upon the foundational soil health principles that are required to maximize nature’s systems for agricultural production.
I was introduced to soil health before the term was widely used. I gradually came to understand it by working on a small, diversified organic farm in California, from farmers who presented at the EcoFarm Conference, by becoming exposed to Acres U.S.A., and by working for a conservation district. And I really began to understand soil when I entered the Soil Science Department at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo 20 years ago.
The Cal Poly soils department at that time was free from the shackles of a crop science department. Professors taught the natural properties of soil function — what we called soil quality. We did not spend much time talking about replacing nutrients on a soil test; in fact, in that department, we were taught this was incorrect. There were no debates or opinions of what constituted soil function — it was fact, already understood going back to the early 1900s. It simply came down to a soil that optimized its ability to manufacture, process and accumulate soil organic matter, or organic carbon. From there, everything else took care of itself. Ecosystems functioned, water ran clean, and plants grew with vigor. It was human intervention that disturbed the system — or could potentially enhance it.
I was fortunate during this time. Along with farming vegetables and fruit, I was able to travel all over California studying forest and rangeland soils, developing an understanding of how nature’s beautiful design built deep, rich organic layers in the soil. I served on the soil judging team for three years and saw soil pits across the country. Not once did I see a deep, organic A horizon in an agricultural soil. But many times I observed soils from an undisturbed forest or grassland next to those agricultural soils and could compare the two. This inspired me to dig deeper into how these native soils had been created.
Farmers who build soil health via ecological principles share a common thread of experience: their soils are rich in organic matter and organic carbon. By the early 2000s, scientists and conservationists were beginning to bring awareness to the fact that soil life is responsible for manufacturing the complex organic properties underground. It became undisputed — soil is alive and must be stewarded.
Then, in around 2010, a major milestone in this field came about when NRCS coined and launched the first four principles of soil health: 1) reduce disturbance, 2) armor the soil, 3) maintain a living root as long as possible, and 4) increase diversity. These principles were announced in conjunction with a national initiative NRCS branded “Unlock the Secrets of Soil.”
When this effort was launched, many of us immediately gravitated to the principles. It was a “Yeah, of course!” or “Duh!” moment. The creation of these original four soil health principles was profoundly encouraging because we could now, with confidence, focus on principles — not just practices or products — and the soil health community and experts knew the greatest soil issues could be solved permanently with this approach. Can you improve soil aggregation and drainage without calcium? Yes! Plant roots build soil aggregation and improve infiltration. Permanent solutions and reducing costs lay ahead. It was comforting to be able to work within a simple and relatively easy-to-approach framework. By following the principles, we didn’t need a perfectly balanced soil test to prove everything out. We could actually see progress on the land. Observation and the craft of implementation of nature’s design became the greatest tool.
Creating the Fifth
Soil organic matter is king in measuring soil health. The quest to maximize the soil’s ability to build SOM is a bit of an obsession, going back hundreds of years. Many of the soil health pioneers were aiming for a metric of increased SOM, and it became universally agreed upon and somewhat obvious that we have to mimic how nature cycles and processes biomass or organic material and organic compounds.
Thus, it was inevitable that the fifth principle — integrating livestock — would soon take the stage. This was another no-brainer: animals are a vital component of every ecosystem and are ultra efficient at adding nutrients or fertility to the land with minimal effort or management on our part. Livestock increase nutrient cycling by converting plant nutrients into rich organic and biological forms that are undeniably a superior natural fertility source for plants, and livestock increase diversity on the land when managed correctly. Animals further enhance our ability to leverage nature’s soil input system.
The five soil health principles thus established a system to mimic nature’s design for agriculture — a system that emphasizes nature’s own inputs into the soil. Allow it to add many forms of organic carbon (organic matter) and water, and an abundance of life will follow to properly manage and cycle the nutrients in the organic matter. Yet it can take many years for soil to build a substantial pool of organic matter that is rich in bioavailable nutrients, and if one is not intentional in maintaining a long-term vision, the system can break down quickly through excessive disturbance.
What Is the Role of the Soil Manager?
There has always been a mindset in commercial agriculture that the soil cannot provide enough — that farms require a master soil manager to apply the right product at the right time. However, a master of soil management is one who observes and applies the right management at the right time. With many agrochemicals known to cause disturbance to soil function, more natural and biological products have been developed to “solve” specific problems.
Yet nothing is as efficient or as cost effective as enhancing nature’s processes for increasing soil biology and organic carbon. There is certainly a time and place for purchased inputs to help catalyze biological activity in highly degraded soils. However, I believe it is very hard for many to truly believe in the ability of proper soil health practices to deliver results. It is very hard for folks to realize or accept that a plant with deep roots is mining minerals from the subsoil and cycling them into bioavailable forms through microbial processes. Even though many understand how photosynthesis pumps carbon into the soil, it is still hard for many to manage for this and to continually remind themselves, every step of the way, that over 50 percent of soil organic carbon is built in the soil through the release of root exudates.
It is imperative to be intentional — and brave — when applying the principles of soil health. This is a mindset my mentors have drilled into my head. Every decision made in soil management must intentionally obey the principles, within the proper context. The result is that Mother Nature will reward you with the greatest input program one could ever realize or measure.
Highjacked by Industry
One of my concerns in recent years is that soil health has become so popular that the definition and understanding of how to truly build and restore soil health is being diluted, and somewhat highjacked, by industry. Because of our information environment, those who have no experience managing agricultural soils are providing their perspective and being heard by those who don’t yet understand the soil health principles.
I believe we are entering dangerous ground via the loud voices that are hyper focused on “improving” soil health through product inputs. Sales agronomists, chemical companies, soil scientists, farm consultants and some influential farmers are building their expert packages of recommendations to improve soil health primarily through product inputs. I don’t think there’s a problem with this — as long as the term “soil health” is not the goal. No one, and no product, can guarantee soil health if the principles and proper management are not in place.
It is incredible how many products exist on the market that claim to improve SOC, water holding capacity, microbial life, etc. My LinkedIn profile is blown up weekly with a produce sales associate trying to tell me why I might like to recommend a solution that improves water holding capacity in desert soils. No thank you, short-term-perspective salesperson!
Agronomists and agricultural product companies often aggressively redefine how to improve soil health through their own definition, which is always focused on product inputs. These same people are then held up as authorities on the subject and are invited to speak at conferences and on podcasts. Large chemical and fertilizer companies, like Syngenta and Yara International, now have soil health divisions and products. Although most are committed to advancing agriculture through the development of such products, their ultimate goal is to make money.
Not all products are created equal, of course, and there certainly are benefits to using specific products at the right time, within the right context, to catalyze soil health building. I have been applying certain types of organic and biological products for many years to bolster crop productivity. But at the core, the soil health principles and practices must be foremost in our minds if we hope to achieve economic and crop production resilience.
The Root of the Problem: Dysfunctional Soil
I really can’t blame anyone for searching for the next best input that will transform their soil and solve their most challenging issues or guarantee good crop yield. You only get one shot each year on most crops. I too have to fight the “wow factor” feeling of great marketing. It has always been exciting and intriguing to find the natural bioorganic fertilizer, the next best organic nitrogen source that will boost plant powers, or the biofungicide that could solve all fungal issues.
But no product input will ever solve the core issues that exist on a farm, whether those be nutrient deficiencies or a major disease issue. There will likely always have to be some level of inputs on most commercial-size farms; without them, most will not be able to control certain pests and diseases, or optimize crop yield. But no farm will reach its potential in terms of quality of life and economic goals if the root cause of disease, pest, or deficiencies is not truthfully realized or dealt with. And the root cause that must be fixed is dysfunctional soil.
To make my case a bit stronger, let’s forget about commercial inputs and use one of the most accepted and prized soil inputs for building soil health: compost. Most will agree that compost is a positive input. But compost is just highly decomposed biomass, and it can come at a great expense when purchased off-farm, and sometimes the expense is large even when made on the farm. The question is whether we can we create compost-like material in place on our farms. With a system that closely mimics the processes found in a forest, or the decomposition of residue in a prairie land, of course we can. And the good news is that with proper skill, craft, creativity and relentlessness, we can expedite nature’s decomposition process through intentional and advanced soil health management techniques.
My point is that there is a better way — a more regenerative way — to get your inputs. This is all about “mimicking nature’s design” — a phrase Ray Archuleta has enthusiastically popularized. When we optimize nature’s design and her input system, we reduce tasks on the farm and the cost of external inputs.
Inputs Nature Gives Us for Free
Product inputs are still required in many farming operations because the soil is far from optimally able to cycle nutrients and provide the key ecosystem services. One cannot just pull the plug on inputs when first implementing soil health practices. It takes a depth of experience to understand when a soil is properly functioning. The best course is often trialing small acreage on the farm with significant input reductions.
However, if a farm’s goal is to build a soil that can provide most of a crop’s required nutrition while developing disease resistance and ecosystem function, the core soil principles must be the foundation. By intentionally focusing on the principles at each step in your soil management, your farm inputs from nature will increase and your confidence to wean off of commercial products will be realized.
What sorts of inputs might increase via nature? Carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, water and a diversity of organic matter inputs that are constantly decomposing and cycling, along with microbiology that further compounds the cycling of organic matter, produces enzymes and unlocks mineral nutrients. Plant roots will scavenge and cycle nutrients from the subsoil to the topsoil to the plant. The beautiful process of nature’s input cycle begins to be optimized in a positive feedback loop.
Once you get this positive feedback loop, you can begin to relax and trust nature to take care of most of your input needs. Over the years, as soil health is managed with intention, positive compounding effects and biological quorum sensing lead to deep, rich, functioning soil that expresses itself aboveground with enhanced farm ecology, which builds true regeneration and farm resilience
The inputs we must master are those that nature will give us for free.
I will finish with the full disclosure that as a farm consultant I have provided recommendations of product inputs to farm clients, and I am a big proponent of foliar nutrition to protect crops and achieve proper plant nutrition. But I never start there. If a farmer has not fully committed or figured out how to master the soil health principles within their context, I start that client with the foundational building blocks — increasing nature’s inputs through soil health management.
And yes, even if a soil has incredible health, this does not mean every crop will grow flawlessly, with abundant yields, every year, without fertility inputs. Incredible soil health does not guarantee a crop that is 100 percent disease and pest free. Why? The answer is complicated and is specific to each farm and crop. But I know that every time, on all operations, when we build the foundation of our production system upon the principles of soil health and stay focused on the long term, farms begin to build resilience, reduce and eliminate their worst disease and pest issues, and reduce their overall fertility input needs — and, in the best cases, eliminate them completely.
This is the core of regenerative farming — to build as much soil health resilience as possible. The economic and quality-of-life benefits will follow.
Chuck Schembre has farmed for over 15 years and is currently a fruit and vegetable consultant with Understanding Ag and a soil health educator with the Soil Health Academy, serving customers throughout the United States and internationally.
Chuck will be a speaker at this year’s Acres U.S.A. Eco-Ag Conference, December 2-5 in Madison, Wisconsin! events.acresusa.com
