Soil Biology: Joining the dots

I recently participated in the Aiva Fertilisers (https://aivafertiliser.co.uk/) Time to Talk series, giving talks on the importance of soil biology in farming and how it all connects.

This video is a narrated version of the talks I gave and I thought I'd share it wider for those who may be interested. The presentation takes us through what is soil biology, why its important to consider, respect and manage. I've tried to link together a lot of the information that is out there from lots of different sources be that academic papers or practitioners or influencers. I have included information I have learned from Dr Elaine Ingham (Soil Food Web), Nicole Masters, Dr James White, Dr David Johnson, Dr Christine Jones, John Kempf's podcasts, Joel Williams, Jeff Lowenfells and Gary Zimmer.

As a recovering chemical agronomist I'm very keen to UNDERSTAND how the soil biology works, why it works and how as farmers and agronomists we can encourage, foster and benefit from being more pro-active in restoring a functioning soil food web back into our soils.

If I can understand the soil food web well enough I can understand the limitations, the barriers to change and benefits it can bring which enables me to advise with clarity and confidence and not blind faith. As John Kempf says regularly we must not fall into the trap of stating the mantra; "all you need to do is..." It's about adopting or adapting systems that is focused on outcomes and using all the tools. I firmly believe that the biggest most effective tool, which has be ignored for decades, is harnessing the power of soil (and plant) biology.

So, I hope that you find it informative. I know there are one or two mistakes (for example I use milligrams instead of micrograms when talking about bacteria and fungal biomass) - The Quorum sensing section is a bit confused and I'm planning on doing another video soon to focus on soil communication systems.

If you want help on adopting better soil biology practices be that through regenerative farming practises or compost making and brewing then reach out.

TA Feb 2024