00:00:00A Tiny Bite Of Soil Life
00:00:37Soil Basics And The Key 5%
00:01:11What Soil Organic Matter Is
00:02:52Why Organic Matter Matters
00:05:45Ways To Build Organic Matter
00:07:07Soil Health Takeaways And Wrap
درباره این اپیزود
We break down what soil organic matter really is, from living microbes to old, dark humus that can take years to form. We also explain why that small slice of soil drives soil health through better structure, nutrient cycling, and water holding capacity.
We discuss
• defining soil organic matter as the biological legacy of a field
• connecting soil composition to the “critical” 5% organic fraction
• explaining humus as a stable end product of decomposition
• improving soil aggregation and aggregate stability for better structure
• boosting water retention and water holding capacity
• increasing negative charge and cation exchange capacity to hold nutrients
• chelating micronutrients like iron, copper, and zinc for plant availability
• releasing nitrogen, phosphorus, and sulfur through organic matter breakdown
• feeding soil microbes by expanding the soil food buffet
• building organic matter with compost, residue, manure, cover crops, and reduced tillage
Tune in next time for a tiny bite of knowledge from GK Technology, where we have a map and an app for that.
https://gktechinc.com/
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WEBVTT
00:00:00.239 --> 00:00:05.360
And now it's time for a tiny bite of knowledge.
00:00:14.480 --> 00:00:19.760
A teaspoon of healthy soil contains more living organisms than there are people on Earth.
00:00:19.920 --> 00:00:23.679
Soil organic matter is essentially the record of all that life.
00:00:23.920 --> 00:00:29.120
What lived, what died, what decomposed, and what got left behind.
00:00:29.280 --> 00:00:31.359
And what took a crap.
00:00:31.600 --> 00:00:37.439
When we measure organic matter, we're measuring the biological legacy of that field.
00:00:37.679 --> 00:00:44.960
If you remember back to the tiny bites episode a long time ago, we talked about what soils are actually comprised of.
00:00:45.119 --> 00:00:51.039
And soils are made up of 20 to 30% air, 20 to 30% water.
00:00:51.119 --> 00:00:55.119
You know, that'll shift based on the soil moisture content of the soil.
00:00:55.280 --> 00:01:00.640
And then it's also 45% mineral, and there's 5% organic matter.
00:01:00.880 --> 00:01:07.280
So today we're going to talk about that 5% and what is exactly that organic matter is.
00:01:07.439 --> 00:01:11.120
So, Jody, what is soil organic matter?
00:01:11.439 --> 00:01:19.439
Yeah, so soil organic matter, and it's not that different of what we talked about at the top of the episode, talking about the biological legacy of our field.
00:01:19.599 --> 00:01:38.640
But it contains a lot of organic or carbon-based substances, such as living organisms, the remains of dead plant material and other dead organisms, animal waste, as Sarah mentioned, remains of plants and animals, microorganisms that are continually being broken down and synthesized into other substances.
00:01:38.879 --> 00:01:51.920
So as microbes eat them, they turn into something else, which another microbe will eat them and then turn it into something else, and then eventually turns into something like hummus or the dark stable end product of decomposition.
00:01:52.079 --> 00:01:56.239
And when we think about hummus, that's typically the black color in the soil.
00:01:56.400 --> 00:02:00.480
And what this is, again, it's a stable form of quote-unquote organic matter.
00:02:00.560 --> 00:02:04.319
And this has usually been decomposing for many, many years.
00:02:04.640 --> 00:02:05.439
Many, many years.
00:02:05.519 --> 00:02:09.280
The hummus is the really old organic matter in the soil.
00:02:09.520 --> 00:02:12.400
Sorry, I'm the hummus and I think chickpeas.
00:02:13.840 --> 00:02:15.039
Hmm, hummus.
00:02:17.599 --> 00:02:24.639
The amount of organic matter in a soil can vary from 1% up to 6% approximately.
00:02:24.800 --> 00:02:32.719
I know at the top of this we always talked about approximately 5% being organic matter, but that can vary in the in soils often.
00:02:33.360 --> 00:02:51.039
And if there's any of you listen like listening in northern Minnesota, and we're not going to touch on the specifics, but there can be things like peat soils that have over 20% organic matter and some other fun situations where that m number is much, much higher than you know your quote unquote average of 5%.
00:02:52.240 --> 00:02:52.719
Right.
00:02:53.599 --> 00:03:00.719
So soil organic matter has very many important functions in our soil.
00:03:01.360 --> 00:03:02.960
It does all kinds of things.
00:03:03.120 --> 00:03:11.039
So as Jody mentioned, that hummus tends to give a lot of soil color to our our soils.
00:03:11.120 --> 00:03:16.240
Um it gives it that dark brown or black color that we think about.
00:03:16.479 --> 00:03:21.120
And that hummus itself leads to aggregate stability.
00:03:21.199 --> 00:03:23.439
It kind of and encourages granulation.
00:03:23.599 --> 00:03:33.599
What it does is it encourages the actual individual soil particles to stick together so that you can get it'll form into aggregates, which is really important.
00:03:33.840 --> 00:03:41.759
Um, and through that process, then it it also helps with water retention and it could help the soil improve its water holding capacity.
00:03:42.240 --> 00:03:52.319
So just like we talked about soils having a negative charge in previous episodes, a part of where soil's negative charge comes from is actually the soil organic matter.
00:03:52.560 --> 00:04:02.800
Oftentimes these soil organic matter particles will have a negative charge, meaning that they can increase the soil's ability to hold on to important nutrients.
00:04:03.199 --> 00:04:19.600
And additionally, as soil organic matter breaks down, it releases substances like organic acids, bullic acids, which can help chelate certain metals like iron, copper, and zinc, which, if they're not chelated, they're not available for plants.
00:04:19.680 --> 00:04:27.439
So it helps to keep some of these nutrients not only there in the soil, but also in a form that plants can actually take up.
00:04:27.839 --> 00:04:44.079
Further, as when we're talking about organic matter breakdown, and this is always something you think a lot more about in terms of soil organic matter breakdown, is when it breaks down into our big fertilizers or our big nutrients like sulfur, phosphorus, and nitrogen.
00:04:44.720 --> 00:04:45.759
Absolutely.
00:04:46.079 --> 00:04:55.519
And as uh Joni was talking about the soil organic matter having a big influence on soil chemistry, it does influence the negatively charged cations.
00:04:55.839 --> 00:05:03.279
And actually, it has about 50 to 90 percent of the cation absorbing power on the mineral surface.
00:05:03.519 --> 00:05:06.079
So it's really an important thing.
00:05:06.560 --> 00:05:10.959
Soil organic matter also is important for our microbial habitat.
00:05:11.120 --> 00:05:18.800
There's a whole world under our feet that's living in the in the soil, and it's our little soil microbes.
00:05:19.040 --> 00:05:29.040
Um, and they need food, and our soil organic matter actually helps provide a buffet of food options for those different organisms.
00:05:29.279 --> 00:05:31.199
Who doesn't love a buffet?
00:05:32.160 --> 00:05:40.639
All you can get soil organic matter is like the Las Vegas for soil nutrients or soil micro nutrients, soil microorganisms.
00:05:40.959 --> 00:05:43.040
But is the entertainment as good?
00:05:43.839 --> 00:05:45.279
Oh, that's debatable.
00:05:45.519 --> 00:05:46.560
That's debatable.
00:05:47.279 --> 00:05:50.480
So, how can we improve our soil organic matter?
00:05:50.800 --> 00:05:52.879
Yeah, so that's that's the question, right?
00:05:53.120 --> 00:05:59.040
All of us want more soil organic matter, but it's it's gonna take it's gonna take some work to improve it.
00:05:59.199 --> 00:06:24.959
And so some really common ways to add soil organic matter is by, you know, on a smaller scale, adding compost, or if you think about it on a crop scale, if you can grow a really good crop, so you've got more biomass and then leave that residue on the surface, more of that residue is gonna be on the field itself and will one day turn into organic matter if it's left there.
00:06:25.279 --> 00:06:31.839
The addition of manure can be a fantastic source to increase soil organic matter.
00:06:31.920 --> 00:06:36.160
Um, same thing with placing cover crops in the fall.
00:06:36.319 --> 00:06:43.680
Again, you're just adding the amount of biomass that's there and providing more of that buffet and possibly entertainment for those microorganisms.
00:06:43.839 --> 00:06:45.680
And then finally reducing tillage.
00:06:45.839 --> 00:07:06.879
If we can reduce the amount of um times that we disturb that microhabitat for um and reduce the amount of times that aggregates are disturbed in the soil, there's a whole lot of things that go into it, but really reducing tillage does encourage the accumulation of soil organic matter.
00:07:07.199 --> 00:07:14.639
You know, when we think about soil health, often, you know, we're trying to take a look at many different factors for soil health.
00:07:14.800 --> 00:07:23.839
And one of the most important or major indicators of overall soil health is having good um soil organic matter levels in the soil.
00:07:24.160 --> 00:07:32.399
So soil organic matter, super important to a healthy soil, super important to nutrient cycling.
00:07:32.560 --> 00:07:45.360
It helps manage, it helps our water holding capacity, um, and nutrient holding capacity, and has huge influence on our and our soil chemistry.
00:07:45.439 --> 00:07:49.120
So, long story short, soil organic batter is super important.
00:07:49.519 --> 00:07:52.720
We love our soil organic batter, it is good.
00:07:53.120 --> 00:08:01.920
Tune in next time for a tiny bite of knowledge from GK Technology, where we have a map and an app for that.
00:00:00.239 --> 00:00:05.360
And now it's time for a tiny bite of knowledge.
00:00:14.480 --> 00:00:19.760
A teaspoon of healthy soil contains more living organisms than there are people on Earth.
00:00:19.920 --> 00:00:23.679
Soil organic matter is essentially the record of all that life.
00:00:23.920 --> 00:00:29.120
What lived, what died, what decomposed, and what got left behind.
00:00:29.280 --> 00:00:31.359
And what took a crap.
00:00:31.600 --> 00:00:37.439
When we measure organic matter, we're measuring the biological legacy of that field.
00:00:37.679 --> 00:00:44.960
If you remember back to the tiny bites episode a long time ago, we talked about what soils are actually comprised of.
00:00:45.119 --> 00:00:51.039
And soils are made up of 20 to 30% air, 20 to 30% water.
00:00:51.119 --> 00:00:55.119
You know, that'll shift based on the soil moisture content of the soil.
00:00:55.280 --> 00:01:00.640
And then it's also 45% mineral, and there's 5% organic matter.
00:01:00.880 --> 00:01:07.280
So today we're going to talk about that 5% and what is exactly that organic matter is.
00:01:07.439 --> 00:01:11.120
So, Jody, what is soil organic matter?
00:01:11.439 --> 00:01:19.439
Yeah, so soil organic matter, and it's not that different of what we talked about at the top of the episode, talking about the biological legacy of our field.
00:01:19.599 --> 00:01:38.640
But it contains a lot of organic or carbon-based substances, such as living organisms, the remains of dead plant material and other dead organisms, animal waste, as Sarah mentioned, remains of plants and animals, microorganisms that are continually being broken down and synthesized into other substances.
00:01:38.879 --> 00:01:51.920
So as microbes eat them, they turn into something else, which another microbe will eat them and then turn it into something else, and then eventually turns into something like hummus or the dark stable end product of decomposition.
00:01:52.079 --> 00:01:56.239
And when we think about hummus, that's typically the black color in the soil.
00:01:56.400 --> 00:02:00.480
And what this is, again, it's a stable form of quote-unquote organic matter.
00:02:00.560 --> 00:02:04.319
And this has usually been decomposing for many, many years.
00:02:04.640 --> 00:02:05.439
Many, many years.
00:02:05.519 --> 00:02:09.280
The hummus is the really old organic matter in the soil.
00:02:09.520 --> 00:02:12.400
Sorry, I'm the hummus and I think chickpeas.
00:02:13.840 --> 00:02:15.039
Hmm, hummus.
00:02:17.599 --> 00:02:24.639
The amount of organic matter in a soil can vary from 1% up to 6% approximately.
00:02:24.800 --> 00:02:32.719
I know at the top of this we always talked about approximately 5% being organic matter, but that can vary in the in soils often.
00:02:33.360 --> 00:02:51.039
And if there's any of you listen like listening in northern Minnesota, and we're not going to touch on the specifics, but there can be things like peat soils that have over 20% organic matter and some other fun situations where that m number is much, much higher than you know your quote unquote average of 5%.
00:02:52.240 --> 00:02:52.719
Right.
00:02:53.599 --> 00:03:00.719
So soil organic matter has very many important functions in our soil.
00:03:01.360 --> 00:03:02.960
It does all kinds of things.
00:03:03.120 --> 00:03:11.039
So as Jody mentioned, that hummus tends to give a lot of soil color to our our soils.
00:03:11.120 --> 00:03:16.240
Um it gives it that dark brown or black color that we think about.
00:03:16.479 --> 00:03:21.120
And that hummus itself leads to aggregate stability.
00:03:21.199 --> 00:03:23.439
It kind of and encourages granulation.
00:03:23.599 --> 00:03:33.599
What it does is it encourages the actual individual soil particles to stick together so that you can get it'll form into aggregates, which is really important.
00:03:33.840 --> 00:03:41.759
Um, and through that process, then it it also helps with water retention and it could help the soil improve its water holding capacity.
00:03:42.240 --> 00:03:52.319
So just like we talked about soils having a negative charge in previous episodes, a part of where soil's negative charge comes from is actually the soil organic matter.
00:03:52.560 --> 00:04:02.800
Oftentimes these soil organic matter particles will have a negative charge, meaning that they can increase the soil's ability to hold on to important nutrients.
00:04:03.199 --> 00:04:19.600
And additionally, as soil organic matter breaks down, it releases substances like organic acids, bullic acids, which can help chelate certain metals like iron, copper, and zinc, which, if they're not chelated, they're not available for plants.
00:04:19.680 --> 00:04:27.439
So it helps to keep some of these nutrients not only there in the soil, but also in a form that plants can actually take up.
00:04:27.839 --> 00:04:44.079
Further, as when we're talking about organic matter breakdown, and this is always something you think a lot more about in terms of soil organic matter breakdown, is when it breaks down into our big fertilizers or our big nutrients like sulfur, phosphorus, and nitrogen.
00:04:44.720 --> 00:04:45.759
Absolutely.
00:04:46.079 --> 00:04:55.519
And as uh Joni was talking about the soil organic matter having a big influence on soil chemistry, it does influence the negatively charged cations.
00:04:55.839 --> 00:05:03.279
And actually, it has about 50 to 90 percent of the cation absorbing power on the mineral surface.
00:05:03.519 --> 00:05:06.079
So it's really an important thing.
00:05:06.560 --> 00:05:10.959
Soil organic matter also is important for our microbial habitat.
00:05:11.120 --> 00:05:18.800
There's a whole world under our feet that's living in the in the soil, and it's our little soil microbes.
00:05:19.040 --> 00:05:29.040
Um, and they need food, and our soil organic matter actually helps provide a buffet of food options for those different organisms.
00:05:29.279 --> 00:05:31.199
Who doesn't love a buffet?
00:05:32.160 --> 00:05:40.639
All you can get soil organic matter is like the Las Vegas for soil nutrients or soil micro nutrients, soil microorganisms.
00:05:40.959 --> 00:05:43.040
But is the entertainment as good?
00:05:43.839 --> 00:05:45.279
Oh, that's debatable.
00:05:45.519 --> 00:05:46.560
That's debatable.
00:05:47.279 --> 00:05:50.480
So, how can we improve our soil organic matter?
00:05:50.800 --> 00:05:52.879
Yeah, so that's that's the question, right?
00:05:53.120 --> 00:05:59.040
All of us want more soil organic matter, but it's it's gonna take it's gonna take some work to improve it.
00:05:59.199 --> 00:06:24.959
And so some really common ways to add soil organic matter is by, you know, on a smaller scale, adding compost, or if you think about it on a crop scale, if you can grow a really good crop, so you've got more biomass and then leave that residue on the surface, more of that residue is gonna be on the field itself and will one day turn into organic matter if it's left there.
00:06:25.279 --> 00:06:31.839
The addition of manure can be a fantastic source to increase soil organic matter.
00:06:31.920 --> 00:06:36.160
Um, same thing with placing cover crops in the fall.
00:06:36.319 --> 00:06:43.680
Again, you're just adding the amount of biomass that's there and providing more of that buffet and possibly entertainment for those microorganisms.
00:06:43.839 --> 00:06:45.680
And then finally reducing tillage.
00:06:45.839 --> 00:07:06.879
If we can reduce the amount of um times that we disturb that microhabitat for um and reduce the amount of times that aggregates are disturbed in the soil, there's a whole lot of things that go into it, but really reducing tillage does encourage the accumulation of soil organic matter.
00:07:07.199 --> 00:07:14.639
You know, when we think about soil health, often, you know, we're trying to take a look at many different factors for soil health.
00:07:14.800 --> 00:07:23.839
And one of the most important or major indicators of overall soil health is having good um soil organic matter levels in the soil.
00:07:24.160 --> 00:07:32.399
So soil organic matter, super important to a healthy soil, super important to nutrient cycling.
00:07:32.560 --> 00:07:45.360
It helps manage, it helps our water holding capacity, um, and nutrient holding capacity, and has huge influence on our and our soil chemistry.
00:07:45.439 --> 00:07:49.120
So, long story short, soil organic batter is super important.
00:07:49.519 --> 00:07:52.720
We love our soil organic batter, it is good.
00:07:53.120 --> 00:08:01.920
Tune in next time for a tiny bite of knowledge from GK Technology, where we have a map and an app for that.
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