AMAZING CARBON

     Recently I have become aware of Dr. Christine Jones, a soil scientist from Australia.  Her schtick is (CMN) "common mycorrhizal network" and (SC) "soil carbon".  She has a website:  amazingcarbon.com.  She is a popular conference speaker and has a compelling message of hope that our depleted soils can be restored in a short period of time.  She has youtube presentations going back more than 10 years; however, her more recent work (<2yrs) is probably more useful because of the rapid increase of the knowledge base of the soil biome the last couple of years.
     Dr. Jones' presentations and articles put a lot of pieces together that I have been having difficulty linking.  Although my knowledge base is wanting, I now have a better understanding about how to improve soil health.

<---Pic of a wheat field in Australia.  This field was originally grass, divided by a fence, and has never been tilled.  For the past 30 years the field was no-tilled with a rotation of fallow/wheat.  The fence was recently removed along with it's diverse cover of mostly weedy species cultivars.  The old fence line shows no drought symptoms where the remainder of the wheat field is dead from moisture stress.  This indicates that no-till, and good soil structure by themselves do not provide sufficient moisture for a monoculture crop in times of drought.  An intact mycorrhizal network in the old fence line provided sufficient moisture and nutrients for that strip of wheat to successfully mature with grain.
A FEW POINTS / STATEMENTS OF PARTICULAR INTEREST: (from her presentation)
----life on earth is carbon based.  (a reminder statement)
----as farmers, we first and foremost harvest sunlight.  (a true statement but who thinks that way)
----all life centers around photosynthate, a simple sugar manufactured in the chloroplasts of green leaves. (I think there are a few exceptions to this statement, --but I accept as generally true.)
----building soil carbon depends on quantity and efficiency of harvested sunlight.
----diversity of cultivars improve efficiency of harvested sunlight. (just starting to be understood)
----many of the processes that take place in the soil are either not known, or not well understood.
----all fungicides, herbicides, synthetic fertilizers - particularly N, and synthetic seed treats, lower the efficiency of harvested sunlight and result in being detrimental to soil biota, making it more difficult to restore our depleted soil carbon.
----soils can be either a source or sink for CO2.
----all cultivation, and bare soils are sources for CO2 in the atmosphere.  Farming practices, world wide, contribute more CO2 to the atmosphere than all the fossil fuel burned. (an astounding statement)
----in the last 150yrs, the worlds prime ag lands have lost between 30% - 75% of their carbon to the atmosphere.
----mineral depletion in food between 1940-1991 is significant: Today, we need twice the meat, three times the fruit, and 4-5 times the vegetables to equal the nutrition of 1940.  (This is astounding to me, and until recently, -- simply unbelievable.  It takes time, and a lot of reading to get ones mind to accept new ideas.)
----carbon conversion efficiency (CCE) is much higher in root derived, than in top growth derived biomass.
----mycorrhizal networks transport, water, nutrients, and carbon.
----mycorrhizal networks increase resistance to diseases and insects increasing plant vigor.
----mycorrhizal networks improve soil biological health.
----the magic number for a cover crop seems to be eight or more cultivars for vary rapid development of soil carbon.

<--In New Zealand a field consisting of volcanic ash that has been no-tilled 30yrs to a rye/clover mix for grazing cattle.  The pic shows ~5" of dark soil formed over ash bed in that time frame.  The dark color is indicative of carbon.

<--5 acres of that field, shown above, was seeded with a mix of ~12 cultivars.  FIVE MONTHS later, this spade depth of dark soil showed the result.  There is > 8"of dark carbon rich soil that developed over that entire 5ac plot.  (The finger points to the light colored ash ground below the dark carbon rich soil.)  I wouldn't expect this dramatic result in our climate, but I think an important part of the puzzle is expressed in these pic's.


JONES'   ---  FIVE PRINCIPLES FOR SOIL RESTORATION        --- Light Farming ---
       1----Green is good!  (Year long green is better )
       2----Microbes matter!  (Plant/Microbe bridge is being increasingly recognized)
       3----Plant Diversity is not Dispensable!  (Every plant have different Exudates)
       4----Limit Chemical Use!  (All synthetic chemistry harms the soil Biome)
       5----Animal Integration!  (Not imperative but highly beneficial)