October 18, 2018

Why is Soil Important?

The Importance of Soil: Historically, soil has been overlooked – seen as merely ground for holding plants while fertilizers, nutrients, and water help them grow. Over time, our topsoil’s have deteriorated due to erosion  and some practices such as mono-cropping and over-tillage. A third of the planet’s land is severely degraded according to the UN , and some experts consider most of the soil in the U.S. as very degraded or degraded.  With global population growth expected to reach 10 billion in 2050, soils are becoming increasingly important.

Why Soil Health Matters: Good soil is alive with billions of microorganisms and it has the proper structure to hold water and nutrients. These attributes allow the soil to better absorb and retain water and nutrients for plants and to better protect against pests. Good soil health can improve farm productivity, improve the long-term sustainability of our soils, and help mitigate climate change . The impact of this degradation isn’t just on farmer’s economics, but extends to American’s health. The United Nations considers soil degradation one of the central threats to human health in the coming decades.

A topic of global concern: Soil Health Trending

Soil health has become a hot topic in agriculture and environmental circles:

• The U.N.’s Food and Ag Organization declared 2015 the year of the soils
• The Paris Climate Agreement of 2015 included commitments from signatories to increase soil carbon by 0.4% each year
• The United Nations considers soil degradation one of the central threats to human health in the coming decades
• Recently, the Foundation for Food and Ag Research provided a $9.4M grant to the Soil Health Institute, Soil Health Partnership, and Nature Conservancy to work to improve soil health and support positive economic and environmental outcomes for American farmers. General Mills, Nestle Purina PetCare, and other companies matched the grant

Soil Health Management Methods: Promoting soil health has traditionally come down to three basic practices: cover cropping, crop diversification, and no-till. However, our new technology, Cool Terra®, gives farmers and green industry professionals an additional tool for their soil health toolbox.

How does Cool Terra improve soil performance characteristics?

Soil carbon is a key component of soil health, and it comes in many forms, each of which plays an important role:

• Labile: such as compost and manure
  • Nutrient rich yet highly degradable and short lived
• Humic: such as humus / fulvic acids
  • Complex organic compounds that are degradable
• Recalcitrant, a.k.a fixed carbon: such as biochar
  • Mostly pyrogenic, highly structural and long lasting (100+ years)

These types of soil carbons can complement each other to enhance the overall health of the soil. In fact, native soils contain fractions of all three types of carbon.

Our proprietary, Engineered Biocarbon™ technology, is a fixed carbon, biochar-based material used to create Cool Terra® products. Engineered Biocarbon™ technology is adsorptive and desorptive, porous, structured, and chemically stable. These attributes provide a variety of soil health benefits:

• Water and nutrient holding
• Anchors micro plant roots
• Promotes microbial habitat
• Pathway for water and oxygen
• Aeration in clay soils, structure in sandy soils
• Durable 100+ year degradation cycle
• Carbon sequestration

Call us at 303-221-2029 today for more information about soil health and the benefits of Cool Terra®.