Topsoil is the most valuable asset that our world has, and our farmers are in charge of keeping as much of it healthy as they can. Carbon in our soil is greater than all the carbon in our biomass and atmosphere combined. At the “Paris accord summit” in 2018, it was announced that more than 50 per cent of the planet’s carbon had already been lost. Some of our farming practices, such as over tilling, monocropping, removing soil residue, excessive use of chemical fertilizers, pesticides, over-grazing, and deforestation are all contributing to carbon loss.
More than 25 years ago, scientists warned our world leaders that burning fossil fuels was the largest contributor to carbon loss. Nothing was done. Ninety-five percent of the world’s food supply relies on the health of the world’s topsoil. Our topsoil is home to almost 60 per cent of Earth’s organisms. Even though only about three per cent of Earth’s soil is fit to produce food on, we lose thousands of acres of prime farmland to roads, housing and other construction every year. These decisions made by our leaders lead us to think that food is not yet expensive enough. There are many news releases that warn us that as soon as 2050, the world may run out of topsoil. China has been buying up great farmland for over 20 years (some in our own county).
A simple little study that was done on our farm in 2023 suggested that by increasing our milk production per cow (even though it has tripled since grandpa’s time) and the use of “cover crops” that can be planted after corn or grain is harvested, leave no soil open to wind or water erosion throughout the late fall, winter, and spring when we plant a new crop to again cover the soil and save it from erosion. Our farmers will continue to breed animals that are more efficient at producing milk, growing faster with better feed conversion, and continuously improving the efficiency of the microscopic life in the topsoil to improve soil fertility with much less dependance on chemical fertilizers. This will, at the same time, reduce chelation of some minor elements that are now tied up by some of the sprays that are recommended by crop specialists. Working towards and maintaining a proper balance of all the minerals in the soil can reduce the impact of many profit-eating insects, worms, and grubs, so less herbicides and insecticides are needed. Better storage methods for the farm’s natural fertilizers, (manure and crop residues), soil tests and natural fertilizer tests will also reduce the amounts of chemical fertilizers required on the farms. Reliance on soil micro-biologists (who we scoffed at when we attended agricultural universities a half century ago) will become much more popular sooner than we think.
“Micro-plastics” and “forever chemicals” that dad never dreamed about are now creeping into our bodies, air, water, and soils. Although the chemists who created these million dollar challenges may not be around to help eliminate them, some of us who want to continue to exist on this planet will have to find a way to do so. Some of our most productive farms have already been declared non-farmable forever and some streams, rivers, and lakes have already been declared non-fishing zones.
Everything that we or animals eat is produced on this thin skin of topsoil that only covers about three per cent of the land on our planet. Is there any reason why soil is not the most valuable “bank account” that a farmer or everyone has on this planet? Let’s protect it.
Chris Judd is a farmer in Clarendon on land that has been in his family for generations.
