Insights from the Living Soil Documentary on Agriculture and Horticulture Practices

In this blog, I want to talk about a documentary related to the previous subject. Living Soil is one of the best documentaries I've seen so far this year. It highlights the critical role that soils play in ecosystems and shows every audience the importance of soil health. The documentary is produced by Chelsea Myers and the Soil Health Institute, and takes viewers on a journey through horticultural and agricultural landscapes across the United States. 

The plot takes us from the green fields of Oregon to the fertile farmland of the Midwest and California. Farmers, scientists and policy makers are interviewed and discuss the current situation, that is, the sustainable agricultural practices that promote soil health. By keeping the soil healthy, we can reduce crop problems gradually. I summarized a few of the main ways farmers in the documentary improve soil quality and solve the problems they face.

First, farmers practice intercropping. This is a practice where different crops are grown in proximity. Like planting Fall Brassica and Buckwheat together. Buckwheat flowers attract parasitic wasps to the fields and are natural enemies of aphids. So intercropping can also improve the health of major crops. 

Simple Guide to Intercropping | How to Grow More Food in your Vegetable Garden - YouTube

In order to save fertilizer costs, farmers use rotation tillage. This technique involves alternating the type of crops grown on the same land to manage soil fertility and health. For example, if a farmer needs to grow plants with high nitrogen requirements, plant crops that fix nitrogen in the soil during the previous year. This not only protects the health of the soil to some extent, but also allows you to spend less money on nitrogen fertilizer next year. 

https://tracextech.com/5-benefits-of-crop-rotation-for-sustainable-agriculture/

Farmers do some one of things: one is to use a roller machine to damage the roots of old crops and make them grow later. The other is to herd cattle on land because plants don't react the same way to being chewed as they do to being cut by machines, and they regrow more aggressively. By increasing the biological health of the area, these ways can also increase the soil health. 

https://www.no-tillfarmer.com/articles/7429-land-rolling-can-drum-up-benefits-roi-for-no-tillers?v=preview

The main reason is that they don't have enough money to manage the land. Compared with cover crop, intercrop and other methods, no-till means fewer employees, higher salaries and lower costs. But doing so can lead to poor crop conditions and long-term soil health. The state of Maryland took  notice and gave money to local farmers to keep the soil and ecology healthy. In this case, my suggestion is to implement a cover crop, take an entire field out of vegetable production and have it in a cover crop or a couple of covers, next year plant vegetables.

The documentary highlights a shocking fact: We've lost half of our soil organic matter in the last 150 years. In the United States, this loss costs society and the environment as much as $85 billion a year. Living Soils is a call to action that encourages us to change the way we manage our soils to ensure they continue to support food production. Being the largest carbon reservoir on land sustains biodiversity and continues to deliver benefits to humanity.