Sept. 26, 2024
In the February 2023 issue of this column, I introduced the forces binding soil into water-stable aggregates...

May 28, 2024
In the March 2024 issue of this column, it was questioned whether pastures were just right in maturity or too old and in need of renovation...

March 26, 2024
Do fresh, newly planted pastures provide better nutritional quality for grazing livestock than older pastures?...

Feb. 24, 2024
Out of sight, out of mind! This adage can certainly apply to our view of soil and the organisms that live in it...

Jan. 25, 2024
This edition of Sunrise on Soil offers some ethical and spiritual musings of soil...

Nov. 13, 2023
Organic matter is a key indicator of soil health and soil function, affecting the natural supply of nutrients, buffering against pH changes, softening soil to resist compaction, holding more water for plant uptake, creating water-stable aggregates to resist erosion, and providing organic resources to feed soil biological communities...

Oct. 13, 2023
Carbon is fundamental to all life. It forms the backbone structure of carbohydrates (composed of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen), which are the initial products from the miraculous process of photosynthesis...

May 3, 2023
To have healthy, functioning grasslands that are nutritious as livestock forage, productive over time, resilient in the face of periodic droughts, that resist the erosive action of intense thunderstorms, and that extract nutrients from soil efficiently, these swards need a vigorous root system!...

March 31, 2023
Can soil really be considered healthy or unhealthy? Wouldn’t that require soil to be a living entity? How could this be if soil is made up of sand, silt, and clay particles and simply holds water and air as a medium for anchoring plants to the earth?...

Feb. 1, 2023
Have you ever wondered why clay soils have such a good ability to absorb water? And yet, these same soils can become muddied and are prone to standing water in wheel tracks from vehicles traversing a...