The Bottom Line: What can I do to protect the environment?

Keep soil covered - It helps keep soil in place. Cover_me.pdf (130 KB)

Avoid this, disturb the soil as little as possible - It helps the natural organisms in the soil clean our water and hold soil in place. Avoid this - Disturbed.pdf (101 KB) Promote this - Little_disturbance.pdf (96 KB)

Keep soil clean - What goes in the soil can end up in your glass. Soil filters our water, but can not filter everything(200 KB)

Use as few chemicals as possible and choose those that easily degrade in the environment or are non-toxic.

The 30 second talk:    How important is soil?

Soil is the interface between the earth’s atmosphere and bedrock or ground water. Soils are very complex. Soil functions to clean our water, support our food supply, and serve as a foundation for our buildings and roads.  We need to make wise choices that will help protect our soils so that they will be able to sustain life on earth.

The 30 second talk:  What is soil made of?

Soil is made of minerals, organic matter, air and water.  A healthy soil is composed of a mixture of all four parts.  Plant roots and soil micro-organisms need air to breath and water to live.  The organic portions of the soil help hold moisture and nutrients in available forms for plant growth, and the mineral portion of the soil is a reservoir for some plant nutrients and forms the matrix that gives soil its strength and ability to resist compaction.  

45 seconds on biodiversity: 

 The environment includes constant struggles for survival.  

           Clean Tilled               Conservation Planting (no tillage)

Farmers often try to sterilize the environment in crop fields by spraying herbicides and insecticides to kill off the predators and weeds that compete with domestic crops.  However, weeds and insects find ways to adapt to herbicides and insecticides.  Biodiversity refers to a method by which systems of microorganisms, plants, and animals are fostered to encourage the growth of domestic crops by allowing them to successfully compete against weeds and insect pests.  When managed properly a good system can effectively wipe out annual weeds and even reduce the need for commercial fertilizers.

60 seconds on aggregate stability/biodiversity:

The soil in the jar to the left came from a long-term no-till field while the soil in the jar on the right came from a field that was conventionally tilled every year.  Notice how much clearer the water is on the left, and how the soil clings together.

By reducing the disturbance of the soil (tilling as little as possible or not at all), a diverse system of microorganisms and fungi are encouraged to grow in crop fields.  These fungi and microorganisms exude slimes that hold soil particles together, absorb moisture, and even hold onto nutrients and make them available for plant use.  This system feeds on decaying plant parts left in the field after harvest.  Amazingly enough, the plants and animals that live in the soil are very effective at “tilling” the soil.  They require oxygen and moisture to live.  As animals burrow in the soil and as plant roots decompose in the soil, channels are formed in the soil.  At the end of a growing season, the soil in a typical field that is not manually tilled for several years will be lighter and fluffier than the soil in a field that is tilled every year.  This is because the act of manually tilling results in rapid oxidation of organic matter in the soil, a disruption of natural channels, and the death of many organisms which would otherwise spend their time maintaining holes in the soil.  The act of tilling effectively results in soils that are like “bricks” at the end of the growing season and have to be tilled again for a short lived “seedbed” condition.

 60 seconds on conservation planting/aggregate stability/biodiversity:

Conservation planting involves the planting of seeds into last year’s crop residue with as little disturbance as possible.  The goal is to reduce fuel needs, weed competition, herbicide and insecticide use, and commercial fertilizer use. Fewer passes over the field reduces fuel use. Weed competition is reduced by leaving weed seeds on the surface to be eaten by foragers (mice and birds, preferably mice since the seeds will be destroyed by them).  In addition, the seeds of the cultivated crop are given an edge by being planted at a consistent depth in a moist soil. The residue covering the soil surface reduces the germination of weed seeds.  The crop residue on the surface also provides a food source for soil microorganisms that help bind the soil together. The resulting soil organic matter acts as a nutrient sink which helps reduce the need for commercial fertilizers.