Why is Organic Matter so Important? Organic matter is a critical component in soil health. Most growers are familiar with the idea that increased organic matter increases water retention in soils. But organic matter is so much more. In a healthy functioning soil, organic matter also acts as a storehouse of nutrients. As dead plant matter decays (due to the soil biology), the nutrients in the decaying plant debris is utilized by the biology. Once extracted, excess nutrients are complexed into other forms of organic matter and stored for potential future use by both plants and soil biology. I like to think of organic matter as the soils pantry. The more organic matter, the bigger the pantry.

How quickly can I expect results?  This question can not be answered precisely.  The answer depends on a variety of factors, most important of which is how disturbed is your soil?  Correcting years of damage is a process and takes time.  Soils with lots of mechanical and chemical pressure can take several years to regenerate.  Relatively undisturbed soil can be regenerated in as little as a year or two.  However, if regenerative practices are strictly adhered to, benefits can usually be seen in the first year of any situation. 

What is Regenerative or Biological Agriculture?  Regenerative or Biological Agriculture refers to using applications and methods that do not degrade, but instead “Regenerate” unhealthy soils.  Healthy soils grow plants without additional inputs, and regenerative and biological methods strive to attain this level of soil health.  Methods that include no (or minimal) tillage, interseeding and multi-cropping, and the application of quality compost, extracts, and teas are some of the important components of Regenerative and biological agriculture.

Don’t Regenerative and Biological  Agriculture Yield Less than Conventional Agriculture?  Sometimes yes, sometimes no.  The answer depends on many factors:  How long have regenerative practices been used?  What was the state of the soil when transition started?  How strict was the grower in following regenerative methods?  What were the qualities of the amendments used, if any?  If irrigated, what is the water quality?  However, in most situations if the regenerative soil system is healthy, then yields will be GREATER, and plants more nutritious than Conventional systems.

Another important point to be made here is growers of all sizes should be focusing on their Return On Investment, or ROI.  Who comes out ahead, the grower that had a 1000 bushel yield at $10.00/bushel, spent $10,000 in labor and amendments, and continued to damage their soil, or the grower who had a 600 bushel yield sold at the same price, spent $2000 in labor and amendments, and helped build their soil health.  Watch your dollars and your bottom line.  

What is the difference between Regenerative and Biological Agriculture?  Although the two are similar, I like to think of Regenerative agriculture as a group of practices that build soil health instead of degrading it.  Biological agriculture is more target specific, focusing on promoting and supporting the biology that lives in the soil and controls nutrient cycling and soil structure.  With these definitions Biological agriculture is one of the tools of Regenerative agriculture practices.

Why is compost so important?  Many people think of compost as a fertilizer and a way to add organic matter to the soil.  While true to some extent, the most important function of compost is to add soil biology to the soil, or by analogy, provide an inoculum of biology to the soil.  With this in mind it is very important to understand that there are tremendous quality differences between composts.  High-quality compost contains adequate levels of all the important members of the soil food web, specifically beneficial nematodes, protozoa, and fungi.  Bacteria are also important, but all compost contains bacteria.  However, high-quality compost contains a much greater diversity in bacteria species than lower-quality compost.  In my experience there are very few commercial scale composters that make high-quality, biologically-diverse compost.

Why do most commercial composts lack the necessary biology?  Nearly all commercial compost producers operate under a business plan that aims to reduce and monetize a waste stream.  Think of poultry farms, commercial mushroom producers, or dairies.  These types of entities have huge amounts of waste by-products that need to be safely disposed of.  Composting allows this.  Unfortunately, management practices under these business plans focus only on their waste stream as feed stock and moving finished product as soon as the “composting” process is complete, normally meaning when it reaches ambient temperature.  This does not produce good compost.  Instead, a microscopic assessment most often shows an abundance of bacteria and nearly nothing else in terms of soil biology:  no fungi, no nematodes, and no protozoa.  Clearly, if intended as an inoculum of soil biology, most commercial composts fail, and add nothing more than organic matter (which is always good), and bacteria (which no soil lacks in the first place).   Many commercial composts also contain elevated levels of salts which obviously can be detrimental to soils and ultimately to plant health.

What is the difference between compost tea and compost extract? Compost tea and extract are liquid derivatives of compost. Both are derived by extracting as much biology as possible from the source compost and holding it in solution. If this liquid is used immediately it is considered an Extract. Extracts are usually applied directly to soils. Compost Teas are made if foods are added to the liquid to encourage the growth of the biology. The resulting liquid must be aerated or bubbled to keep the liquid aerobic while the biology has a chance to multiply. After 12-48 hours, the resulting liquid can then be used. Compost teas are usually used in foliar applications.