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By STAN BLADE, P.Ag.
FROM LAB
TO FIELD
Onsolidground
The United Nations has
declared 2015 the International Year of
Soils. The goal of this effort is to “raise
awareness of the importance of sustain-
able soil management as the basis for
food systems, fuel and fibre production,
essential ecosystem functions and better
adaptation to climate change for present
and future generations.” I have noticed
that the usual UN ambassadors (Ange-
lina Jolie, David Beckham, Katy Perry)
have not stepped forward to serve as the
celebrity face of this important initiative.
Perhaps they think there are limited possi-
bilities for a “photo op” with saline seeps,
chernozems and micronutrients.
Where do you stand on soil? No doubt
it is the substrate that produces millions
of tonnes of grains, oilseeds and forage
across Western Canada. Our soil contains
large pools of nutrients (and manages the
complex chemistry of nutrient cycling)
that can be accessed by plants to com-
bine with light and water to generate a
remarkable range of products. At times,
I wonder if we appreciate that soil is also
a finite natural resource—non-renewable
on a human time scale. In addition to soil
as the foundation for food, animal feed,
fuel and natural fibre production, it also
contributes to the supply of clean water
and a range of ecosystem functions.
I am convinced that western Cana-
dian producers are superb stewards of
the land—but there are many things
happening in that ground that science is
just starting to discover. Every producer
in Alberta knows that our soils are based
on climate and parent material. The
brown chernozems of southeast Alberta
are dictated by their original grassland
vegetation and limited precipitation. As
we move north and west in the province,
the soils reflect dark-brown and then black
coloration determined by the associated
vegetation based on higher precipitation.
Further north in the province, limitations
to productivity occur due to soils asso-
ciated with mixed forest vegetation and
shorter frost-free periods.
Soil research has a remarkable history.
The Russian geologist Vasily Dokuchaev
is considered the father of soil science. He
was the first to make the case in the early
part of the 20th century that soils should
be considered a complex and distinct
resource separate from geology and crop
production. Although there has been a
massive amount of research done in the
intervening century, there are still new
areas of research that are providing us
with novel insights.
Data from Texas A&M University esti-
mates that the total weight of soil organ-
isms ranges from 1,160 to 12,700 pounds
per acre—and that doesn’t include earth-
worms, nematodes, mites and springtails.
State of Colorado researchers, using the
newest genomic techniques, compared
virgin prairie soil microbiota to current
cropland—and the populations were
radically different. New research from the
University of Helsinki indicates that small
changes in atmospheric temperature can
reduce the amount of sequestered carbon
due to micro-organism response. The
work and studies go on.
How does this work relate to current
production? The Grains Research and
Development Corporation in Australia
is investing in research to see what role
soil microbiology might play in disease
suppression, and to quantify the benefit
of free-living nitrogen-fixing bacteria in
soils. Producers have been rewarded from
new technologies to gain benefits from
nitrogen-fixing rhizobia and mycorrhizae.
The soil health initiative in the United
States is looking at new ways to encour-
age U.S. farmers to understand the value
of soil microbes—noting that there is a
remarkable symbiosis between plants and
soil microbes. Ohio State data showed that
typical crop plants give up 25 to 45 per cent
of their total carbohydrate reserves to feed
the microbes; in return, the microbes pro-
vide nutrients and water to the plant. The
relatively new Haney Soil Test measures
not only the existing pools of nutrients, but
also the capacity of soil to deliver nutrients
based on soil biological status.
We now have the tools to start to un-
derstand (and, in the future, maximize)
the massive populations of organisms
that are active just beneath our feet in the
cropland across Western Canada. A recent
survey of producers by the Alberta Crop
Industry Development Fund indicated that
soil health was high on the list of issues
that are of concern to crop producers in
Alberta. This is the time to start using new
scientific tools to not only understand the
complexity of soil biology on the Prairies,
but also develop new crop management
techniques to work with nature to achieve
both higher yields and healthy soils.
Dr. Stan Blade is Dean of the Faculty of
Agricultural, Life and Environmental Sciences
at the University of Alberta.
Winter
2015
Grains
West
46
Prairie soil still anunDISCOVEREDworld