SOS: Save our Soils Dr. Christine Jones Explains the Life-Giving Link Between Carbon and Healthy Topsoil

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SOS: Save our Soils Dr. Christine Jones Explains the Life-Giving Link Between Carbon and Healthy Topsoil
INTERVIEW

SOS: Save our Soils
Dr. Christine Jones Explains the Life-Giving
Link Between Carbon and Healthy Topsoil
                              To the pressing worldwide challenge of restoring soil carbon and rebuilding
                              topsoil, the Australian soil ecologist Dr. Christine Jones offers an acces-
                              sible, revolutionary perspective for improving landscape health and farm
                              productivity. For several decades Jones has helped innovative farmers and
                              ranchers implement regenerative agricultural systems that provide remark-
                              able benefits for biodiversity, carbon sequestration, nutrient cycling, water
                              management and productivity. After a highly respected career in public
                              sector research and extension, in 2001 Jones received a Community Fellow-
                              ship Award from Land and Water Australia for “mobilizing the commu-
                              nity to better manage their land, water and vegetation.” Three years later
                              she launched Amazing Carbon as a means to widely share her vision and
                              inspire change. Jones has organized and presented workshops, field days,
                              seminars and conferences throughout Australia, New Zealand, South Afri-
                              ca, Zimbabwe, Europe, the United States and Canada. Last year, she gave
                              presentations to American organizations and institutions as diverse as Ari-
                              zona State University, NRCS, Pennsylvania No-Till Alliance, the Massa-
                              chusetts chapter of Northeast Organic Farming Association (NOFA), San
                              Luis Valley Soil Health Group and the Quivira Coalition. In 2015 Jones’
                              personal commitment to make the biggest possible impact globally will take
                              her to Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, Kansas, New Mexico,
                              California, Florida, Costa Rica and South Africa, as well as many regions
                              within Australia and New Zealand. In early March she travels to Western
                              Australia, 2,500 miles from her home, to hold the first in a series of Soil
                              Restoration Farming Forums, in which 11 farmers will receive monetary
                              awards for reversing soil deterioration in dryland cropping systems through
                              intercropping with perennial warm season grasses.

                              ACRES U.S.A. You’ve written that                                                    describe the formation of topsoil as
Dr. Christine Jones           the most meaningful indicator for the                                               being breathtakingly rapid.
                              health of the land and the long-term
                              wealth of a nation is whether soil                                                  DR. CHRISTINE JONES. People
                              is being formed or lost. Yet there’s                                                have confused the weathering of rock,
                              a widespread belief, actually dogma,                                                which is a very, very slow process,
                              that the formation of soil is an exceed-                                            with the building of topsoil, which
                              ingly slow process. Even some organ-                                                is altogether different. Most of the
Interviewed by Tracy Frisch   ic researchers accept that idea. You                                                ingredients for new topsoil come from

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the atmosphere — carbon, hydrogen,          bon, to signal to microbes and to other                                              in cellulose, lignin, starches, oils, waxes
oxygen and nitrogen.                        plants. But perhaps the most significant                                             or other compounds formed by plants,
                                            finding, at least from a human perspec-                                              microbes have to break this material
ACRES U.S.A. Why have many soil             tive, is that the flow of liquid carbon to                                           down — the same as we do when we
scientists denied the phenomenon of         soil is the primary pathway by which                                                 digest starches or proteins or anything
rapid soil-building?                        new topsoil is formed.                                                               else of plant or animal origin. We
                                                                                                                                 breathe out more CO2 than we breathe
JONES. Because they do their research       ACRES U.S.A. All of which revolves                                                   in, because as we utilize the energy we
in places where it’s not happening,         around the concept of a plant-microbi-                                               obtain from the assimilation of food,
where the carbon is running down and        al bridge?                                                                           our cells release CO2. The decompos-
the soils are deteriorating. We need                                                                                             ers in the soil are doing exactly the
to measure carbon on farms where            JONES. In order for carbon to “flow”                                                 same thing — breaking down organic
soil-building is occurring and see what     to soil, there has to be a partner-                                                  materials and releasing CO2. These
the farmers and ranchers are doing to       ship between plant roots and the soil                                                processes are catabolic. Conversely,
make that happen.                           microbes that will receive that carbon.                                              the formation of humus is an anabolic
                                            Somewhere between 85 to 90 per-                                                      process, that is, a building-up process.
ACRES U.S.A. The process of fixing          cent of the nutrients plants require for                                             Rather than sugar being the end point,
carbon in the soil seems to be the crux     healthy growth are acquired via car-                                                 sugar is the start point. Soil microbes
of your work. You describe a cycle          bon exchange, that is, where plant root                                              use sugars to create complex, stable
with carbon in three phases: as a gas, a    exudates provide energy to microbes                                                  forms of carbon, including humus.
liquid and a solid.                         in order to obtain minerals and trace
                                            elements otherwise unavailable. We                                                   ACRES U.S.A. How would you
JONES. The issue we’re facing is that       inadvertently blow the microbial                                                     define humus?
too much of the carbon that was once        bridge in conventional farming with
in a solid phase in the soil has become     high rates of synthetic fertilizers or                                               JONES. Humus is an organo-mineral
a gas. That could be dangerous for the      with fungicides or other biocides.                                                   complex comprising around 60 per-
human species. Climate change is just                                                                                            cent carbon, between 6 and 8 percent
one aspect. Food security, the nutrient     ACRES U.S.A. Are you observing an                                                    nitrogen, plus phosphorus and sulfur.
density of food and the water-holding       increased awareness of the significance                                              Humic molecules are linked to iron
capacity of the soil are also very potent   of biological processes?                                                             and aluminum and many other soil
reasons for keeping carbon in a solid                                                                                            minerals, forming an intrinsic part of
phase in the soil.                          JONES. There is a lot more energy                                                    the soil matrix. Humus cannot be
                                            generated through biological processes                                               “extracted” from soil any more than
ACRES U.S.A. Your term “liquid car-         than through the burning of fossil fuels.                                            wood can be “extracted” from a tree.
bon” is such a brilliant phrase. It has     Most life-forms obtain their energy
really helped me conceptualize the car-     either directly or indirectly from the                                               ACRES U.S.A. You frequently men-
bon cycle. What do you mean by it?          sun, via the process of photosynthesis.                                              tion mycorrhizal fungi in your work.
                                            Plants are what we call autotrophs. That                                             What makes them so special?
JONES. Liquid carbon is basically           is, they feed themselves by combining
dissolved sugar. Sugars are formed in       light energy with CO2 to produce                                                     JONES. Much of the initial research
plant chloroplasts during photosyn-         biochemical energy. As heterotrophs,                                                 into mycorrhizal fungi was related to
thesis. Some of the sugars are used for     we obtain energy by eating plants or                                                 the uptake of phosphorus. Phosphorus
growth and some are exuded into soil        eating animals that ate plants. In effect,                                           is a highly reactive element. As soon
by plant roots to support the microbes      we’re running on light energy too.                                                   as there’s any free phosphorus floating
involved in nutrient acquisition.           Even microbes in a compost heap are                                                  around in the soil, including whatever
                                            obtaining energy by breaking down                                                    we may add as fertilizer, it becomes
ACRES U.S.A. I remember bringing            organic materials originating from the                                               fixed. In other words, it forms a chemi-
up the idea of leaky roots in a conver-     process of photosynthesis.                                                           cal bond with another element like
sation with you and you laughed.                                                                                                 iron or aluminum or calcium, making
                                            ACRES U.S.A. You distinguish                                                         it unavailable to plants. But certain
JONES. At first people thought              between organic matter formed by                                                     bacteria produce an enzyme called
“leaky” roots were defective. Exuding       the decomposition of manure, crop                                                    phosphatase that can break that bond
carbon into the soil seemed such a          residues or other carbonaceous materi-                                               and release the phosphorus. Once
silly thing for plants to do! Then it       als — and humus — which is generated                                                 released, the phosphorus still has to be
became recognized that some of the          via a building-up process. I think a lot                                             transported back to the plant, which is
exudates were phenolic compounds            of times that is misunderstood.                                                      where mycorrhizal fungi come in. As
with allelopathic effects, important in                                                                                          our analytical techniques have became
plant defense. Of course we now know        JONES. It’s a really important distinc-                                              more sophisticated, we’ve realized that
that plant roots exude a vast array of      tion, but it’s often overlooked. In order                                            mycorrhizal fungi also transport a wide
chemical substances, all based on car-      to obtain the energy that is contained                                               variety of other nutrients, including

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INTERVIEW

nitrogen, sulfur, potassium, calcium,         from the way we are used to thinking                                                 chemical fertilizer and pesticides break
magnesium, iron and essential trace           about growing crops.                                                                 up the mycorrhizal networks. If plants
elements such as zinc, boron, man-                                                                                                 can obtain nitrogen or phosphorus
ganese and copper. In dry times they          JONES. The point that’s often missed                                                 easily, they will stop pumping carbon
supply water. Mycorrhizal fungi can           is that a mycorrhizal plant photosyn-                                                into the soil to support their microbial
extend quite a distance from plant            thesizes much faster than a non-mycor-                                               partners. It’s taken a while for people
roots. They form networks between             rhizal plant of the same species grow-                                               to realize that plant root exudates
plants and colonies of soil bacteria.         ing right next to it. The plant is able                                              are not only important for nutrient
Plants can communicate with each              to give half its energy away and still                                               exchange, but also essential for the
other via messages sent through these         grow stronger because of the symbiotic                                               maintenance of topsoil. If carbon is
networks. Mycorrhizal fungi are both          relationship with the fungus. It doesn’t                                             not flowing to soil via the liquid carbon
the highway and the Internet of the           cost the plant anything to photosyn-                                                 pathway, soil deteriorates. Carbon is
soil.                                         thesize faster. It’s just using sunlight                                             needed for soil structure and water-
                                              more efficiently. Remember, plants are                                               holding capacity as well as for feed-
ACRES U.S.A. How can something                autotrophic.                                                                         ing the microbes involved in nutrient
so important be overlooked?                                                                                                        acquisition. When soil loses carbon,
                                              ACRES U.S.A. And sunlight is free.                                                   it becomes hard and compacted. The
JONES. Much of the agricultural                                                                                                    differences in infiltration and mois-
research undertaken in pots in glass          JONES. CO2 is free too. If a plant pho-                                              ture retention between high- and low-
houses is fundamentally flawed. Soil is       tosynthesizes faster it’s going to have                                              carbon soils are dramatic. Planetary
homogenized to remove background              higher sugar content and a higher Brix                                               stocks of fresh water are declining
noise, that is, to make the soil in all the   level. Once Brix gets over 12, the plant                                             alarmingly. More efficient water use
pots similar at the outset. The blend-        is largely resistant to insects and patho-                                           is going to be absolutely critical to
ing process breaks up the hyphae of           gens. High-Brix plants have formed                                                   the survival of our species. Making
mycorrhizal fungi. In some trials the         relationships with soil microbes able                                                better use of water requires improved
soil is also sterilized to eliminate any      to supply trace elements and other                                                   soil structure — which in turn requires
microbial activity that could interfere       nutrients that the plant needs for self-                                             actively aggregating soils. If aggregates
with the treatment being assessed. And        defense, for its immune system. When                                                 are breaking down faster than they’re
often the soil has been stored for a long     plants are able to produce high levels                                               forming, the water-holding capacity of
time prior to the experiments, which          of plant-protection compounds, the                                                   soil can only deteriorate.
means most of the soil organisms have         insects go elsewhere.
died. In such an environment, plants                                                                                               ACRES U.S.A. How can we tell if a
are likely to respond to applied fertil-      ACRES U.S.A. We tend to think that                                                   soil has good aggregation?
izer, as they have no other means to          minerals in the soil are scarce because
obtain nutrients. Similarly with field        most of them are not in a form avail-                                                JONES. Dig a hole and take a handful
trials, if the soil has been cultivated or    able to plants.                                                                      of soil. Squeeze it gently and release.
bare fallowed, mycorrhizal fungi will                                                                                              If the soil is well aggregated, it will
not be there in sufficient quantities         JONES. A soil test will only tell you                                                look like a handful of peas. If the soil
for effective carbon flow and nutri-          what is available to plants by passive                                               remains in hard chunks that don’t
ent acquisition. In healthy, biologically     uptake. The other 97 percent of min-                                                 break easily into small lumps, then it
active soils, we do not see a response        erals — made available by microbes                                                   isn’t well aggregated.
to synthetic nitrogen or phosphorus           — will not show up on a standard test.
fertilizers. If anything, the use of these    By looking after the microbes in the                                                 ACRES U.S.A. What processes are
is counterproductive.                         soil we can increase the availability of                                             going on inside of a soil aggregate?
                                              a huge variety of minerals and trace
ACRES U.S.A. I’ve learned from you            elements — most of which are not even                                                JONES. The aggregate is the funda-
that plants colonized by mycorrhizal          in fertilizers.                                                                      mental unit of soil function. A great
fungi can grow much more robustly                                                                                                  deal of biological activity takes place
even though they’re giving away as            ACRES U.S.A. We always hear the                                                      within aggregates. For the most part,
much as half of the sugars that they          story about fields that were continu-                                                this is fueled by liquid carbon. Most
make in photosynthesis through their          ously cropped or hayed for 30 years                                                  aggregates are connected to plant
roots.                                        where the soil is so exhausted that we                                               roots, often to very fine feeder roots,
                                              have to add a lot of nutrients or we                                                 or to mycorrhizal networks unable to
JONES. That’s correct.                        can’t grow a thing.                                                                  be detected with the naked eye. Liquid
                                                                                                                                   carbon streams into the aggregates via
ACRES U.S.A. So we have this sys-             JONES. The problem is that we inter-                                                 these roots or fungal linkages, enabling
tem characterized by abundance and            rupt carbon flow with the way we                                                     the production of glues and gums that
generosity, and that’s really different       farm. Cultivating the soil and using                                                 hold the soil particles together. If you

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gently lift a plant from healthy soil,      most cannot be cultured in the lab.                                                  standard, but people happily consume
you’ll find aggregates adhering to the      This applies to most species of mycor-                                               it, not realizing it’s unhealthy.
roots. The moisture content is higher       rhizal fungi as well. As bio-molecular
inside a soil aggregate than on the         methods for detecting microbes in the                                                ACRES U.S.A. These are great points.
outside, and the partial pressure of        soil become more sophisticated, we’re                                                How dependent is the world on the
oxygen is lower on the inside than on       realizing there is a lot more life — and                                             application of synthetic nitrogen?
the outside. These important proper-        a lot more species — than we thought.
ties enable nitrogen-fixing bacteria to     It has become obvious that there are                                                 JONES. Farmers around the world
function. When aggregates aren’t form-      thousands of different types of bacte-                                               collectively spend about $100 billion
ing — because of cultivating the soil or    ria and archaea that can fix nitrogen.                                               per year on nitrogen fertilizer. I’m
using chemicals or having bare soil         The Haber-Bosch process, by which                                                    greatly inspired by the multi-species
for six months or more with no green        we manufacture nitrogen fertilizer, is                                               cover crop revolution in the United
plants — crops are not able to obtain       a catalytic reaction requiring enor-                                                 States. Leading-edge farmers like Gabe
sufficient nitrogen. The tendency is        mous amounts of energy. Yet micro-                                                   Brown, Dave Brandt and Gail Fuller
then to add fertilizer nitrogen, exacer-    scopic bacteria in the rhizosphere or                                                are showing it’s possible to maintain or
bating the situation. The application of    within plant-associated aggregates can                                               even improve crop yields while wind-
large quantities of inorganic nitrogen      fix nitrogen simply using light energy                                               ing back on fertilizer. These farmers
interrupts carbon flow to soil, further     from the sun, transformed to biochem-                                                are light years ahead of the science.
reducing aggregation.                       ical energy during photosynthesis and                                                They’re building soil, improving the
                                            channeled to soil by plant roots.                                                    infiltration of water, increasing water
ACRES U.S.A. It sounds like a vicious                                                                                            holding capacity and getting fantastic
cycle.                                      ACRES U.S.A. I’m a little confused                                                   yields. They have fewer insects and
                                            because I understood that there is a                                                 less disease. The carbon and water
JONES. Yes, the more N applied,             difference between mineral nitrogen                                                  cycles are fairly humming on their
the more soil structure deteriorates        and organic nitrogen.                                                                farms.
and ironically, the less N is available
to plants. You’ll rarely see a nitrogen-    JONES. That’s correct. Nitrogen-                                                     ACRES U.S.A. I want to get your rec-
deficient plant in a healthy natural        fixing bacteria produce ammonia,                                                     ipe for transforming terra-cotta tile into
ecosystem. When I was driving home          a form of inorganic nitrogen, inside                                                 chocolate cake — that is, turning hard,
yesterday I noticed yellow, nitrogen-       soil aggregates and rhizosheaths.                                                    compacted soil into loose, fragrant soil
deficient pastures on many of the dairy     Rhizosheaths are protective cylinders                                                teeming with life.
farms I passed. But in the area between     that form around plant roots. They’re
the fence and the road, where no fertil-    basically a bunch of soil particles held                                             JONES. There isn’t a “recipe” as such
izer had been used, the grasses were a      together by plant root exudates. You                                                 for maintaining soil aggregates (the
lovely dark green.                          can easily strip them off with your fin-                                             starting point for chocolate cake). It’s
                                            gers. Within these biologically active                                               really just a set of guiding principles.
ACRES U.S.A. We are familiar with           environments the ammonia is rapidly                                                  Soil becomes like a terra-cotta tile
Rhizobium bacteria and their relation-      converted into an amino acid or incor-                                               when aggregates break down. Hard,
ship with legumes. What should we           porated into a humic polymer. These                                                  compacted soil sheds water. The
know about free-living nitrogen fixing      organic forms of nitrogen cannot be                                                  amount of effective rainfall is dramati-
bacteria?                                   leached or volatilized. Amino acids                                                  cally reduced. It’s also much harder
                                            can be transferred into plant roots by                                               for plant roots to grow in poorly aggre-
JONES. From an agricultural perspec-        mycorrhizal fungi and joined together                                                gated soil. The first rule for turning
tive the most important of the free-        by the plant to form a complete pro-                                                 this around is to keep the soil covered,
living nitrogen-fixing bacteria are asso-   tein. On the other hand, inorganic                                                   preferably with living plants, all year
ciative diazotrophs — so-called because     nitrogen applied as fertilizer often ends                                            round. In environments where the soil
the atmospheric nitrogen that they fix      up in plants as nitrate or nitrite, which                                            freezes, it’s still important to maintain
occurs as di-nitrogen (N2) and associa-     can result in incomplete or “funny”                                                  soil cover with mulch or a frost-killed
tive because, like mycorrhizal fungi,       protein. This becomes a problem in                                                   cover crop or better still, a frost-hardy
they require the presence of a living       cattle if it turns up as high levels of                                              cover that will begin to grow again as
plant for their carbon. These bacteria      blood urea nitrogen (BUN) or milk                                                    soon as spring arrives. Microbes will
live in close proximity to plant roots or   urea nitrogen (MUN). Nitrates cause a                                                go into a dormant phase over winter
are linked to plant roots via the mycor-    range of metabolic disorders including                                               and re-activate at the same time as the
rhizal highway.                             infertility, mastitis, laminitis and liver                                           plants. In regions with a hot, dry sum-
                                            dysfunction. There is also a strong link                                             mer, evaporation is enemy number
ACRES U.S.A. Isn’t our knowledge of         between nitrate and cancer. In some                                                  one. Bare soil will be significantly hot-
these organisms pretty recent?              places in the United States it is not                                                ter and lose more moisture than cov-
                                            safe to drink the water due to exces-                                                ered soil. Aggregates will break down
JONES. The reason we know so little         sive nitrate levels. Milk can also have                                              unless the soil is alive. Aggregation is
about associative diazotrophs is that       nitrate levels above the safe drinking

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INTERVIEW

absolutely vital for moisture infiltration    JONES. Yes, I am, which is basically                                                 identifying is a faulty understanding of
and retention.                                why I do what I do. But I don’t say a                                                what it means to farm well and to be
                                              lot about that because if you start your                                             a good farmer. What are some of the
ACRES U.S.A. OK, so that’s one.               talk with “we’re all going to die from                                               qualities that farmers think they should
                                              cancer unless we change,” people tune                                                have that get in the way of building
JONES. Point two is to maximize               out. It’s too threatening. Most of us                                                healthy soil?
diversity in both cover crops and cash        have lost loved ones through cancer.
crops. Aim for a good mix of broad-                                                                                                JONES. I must admit that in the early
leaf plants and grass-type plants and         ACRES U.S.A. You say it’s not just                                                   ’90s, when I first started going onto
include as many different functional          the toxins in our food that are the                                                  farms that were using holistic planned
groups as possible. Diversity above           problem, but the use of biocides —                                                   grazing, I was a bit shocked to see
ground will correlate with diversity          chemicals that kill living organisms                                                 the number of weeds popping up.
below ground. Third, avoid or mini-           — which reduce the nutrient content of                                               These weeds would have been sprayed
mize the use of synthetic fertilizers, fun-   food. And you attribute that nutrient                                                under the former management regime,
gicides, insecticides and herbicides. It’s    reduction to the inhibition of the plant-                                            but the ranchers were saying, “Don’t
a no-brainer that something designed          microbial bridge.                                                                    worry. We have to pass through this
to kill things is going to do just that.                                                                                           weedy stage. If we spray weeds, we
There are countless living things in soil     JONES. Spot on. If the plant-microbe                                                 create bare ground and the weed seed
that we don’t even have names for, let        bridge has been blown, it’s not possible                                             that’s there means the weeds sim-
alone an understanding of their role          for us to obtain the trace elements our                                              ply come back.” There’s a saying,
in soil health. It’s nonsense to say bio-     bodies need in order to prevent can-                                                 “the more you spray weeds, the more
cides don’t damage soil! In Australia         cer — and a range of other metabolic                                                 weeds there will be to spray.” It’s oh
many farmers plant seeds treated with         disorders. Cancer is not a transmissible                                             so true! Continually reverting to bare
fungicide “just in case.” They’re actu-       disease. It’s simply the inability of our                                            ground creates more problems than
ally preventing the plant from form-          bodies to prevent abnormal cells from                                                it solves. Those ranchers knew some
ing the beneficial associations that it       replicating. To date, the response to the                                            weeds had deep roots that bring up
needs in order to protect itself. After       cancer crisis has revolved around con-                                               nutrients. Leaving them there meant
a few weeks of crop growth, they will         structing more oncology units, employ-                                               better quality plants would eventually
then apply a “preventative” fungicide,        ing more oncologists and undertaking                                                 be able to grow in the improved soil
which also finds its way to the soil,         more research. The big breakthrough                                                  and replace the weeds. That is exactly
inhibiting the soil fungi that are essen-     in cancer prevention will be in chang-                                               what happened. Over the last 60 years
tial to crop nutrition and soil building.     ing the way we produce our food.                                                     we’ve tried — and failed — to control
The irony is that plants are then unable                                                                                           weeds with chemicals. One of the
to obtain the trace elements they need        ACRES U.S.A. We have plenty of                                                       exciting things about the multi-species
to fight fungal diseases. We see many         evidence from meta-studies that the                                                  cover crop revolution that’s underway
examples of crops grown biologically          nutrient content of produce grown                                                    in the United States is that the greater
that are rust-free, side-by-side with         organically tends to be higher than                                                  the variety of plant types you use, the
rust infected plants in neighboring           produce grown chemically. We also                                                    more niches you fill and the less oppor-
fields where fungicides are being used.       have documentation of steep declines                                                 tunities there are for weeds. Cover-crop
There is an analogous situation with          in nutrient content in a number of                                                   enthusiasts are experimenting with 60
human health. Not that long ago the           foods over the last century.                                                         or 70 different species in their mixes. I
cancer rate was around one in 100.                                                                                                 see the trend to polyculture as the most
Now we’re pretty close to one in two          JONES. Yes, we’re getting a double                                                   significant breakthrough in the history
people being diagnosed with cancer.           whammy. We’re ingesting chemical                                                     of modern agriculture. Even so, the
At the current rate of increase, it won’t     residues, but not the trace elements                                                 first time you see a multi-species cover
be long before nearly every person will       and phytonutrients we need for an                                                    or a cash crop grown with companion
contract cancer during their lifetimes.       effective immune response. Plants                                                    plants, you might think, “Wow, that
Cancer is also the number one killer          need trace elements, like copper and                                                 looks untidy” because we’re not used
in dogs. Isn’t that telling us something      zinc, to make these phytonutrients. But                                              to it. It takes a little while to realize
about toxins in the food chain? We’re         the trace elements will not be available                                             that having all those different plants
not only killing everything in the soil,      in the absence of an intact microbial                                                together is really beneficial. Somehow
we’re also killing ourselves — and our        bridge.                                                                              we have to change the image of what
companion animals. Is that what we                                                                                                 a healthy field looks like so that when
want for our future?                          ACRES U.S.A. You’ve talked about                                                     people see bare ground or a monocul-
                                              the pressure on farmers to have tidy                                                 ture, they recognize it’s lacking — and
ACRES U.S.A. Are you a cancer                 farms and uniformity in their fields. It                                             that this is not a good thing.
survivor?                                     seems like one of the problems you’re

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ACRES U.S.A. What sort of response           areas. It’s a matter of dipping a toe in                                              ACRES U.S.A. You mentioned the
are the cover crop pioneers receiving?       the water. Include some clovers or peas                                               longest-running field experiment in
                                             with your wheat, or vetch with your                                                   North America that found that high
JONES. They’re seeing fantastic              corn — just on one part of the field.                                                 nitrogen depletes soil carbon?
results. The trouble is they are not         This reduces the risk. When farmers
getting the accolades they deserve.          see that they’ve gained rather than lost                                              JONES. The Morrow Plots are the
This is slowly beginning to change.          yield — and that the crop looks healthi-                                              oldest continuously cropped experi-
NRCS, in particular, are being excep-        er — they will be inspired to try a larger                                            mental fields in the United States. A
tionally supportive of these leading-        area and a greater variety of compan-                                                 team of University of Illinois research-
edge farmers. Cover cropping is now          ion plants next time. Another option is                                               ers investigated how the fertilization
generating a huge amount of interest.        to plant a multi-species cover crop on                                                regimes that were commenced in these
Recently I visited Brendon Rockey,           part of the land that would normally be                                               plots in 1955 affected crop yields and
a young potato farmer in the San             devoted to a cash crop. You’re excep-                                                 soil carbon and organic nitrogen lev-
Luis Valley of Colorado. Brendon has         tionally lucky in the United States in                                                els. They discovered that the fields that
increased irrigation efficiency 20 per-      that a lot of farmers are experiment-                                                 had received the highest applications
cent through the use of cover crops.         ing with cover crops now. Once the                                                    of nitrogen fertilizer had ended up
There is increasing worldwide recogni-       diversity ramps up, the ladybirds and                                                 with less soil carbon — and ironically
tion of the fact that multi-species cover    lacewings and predatory wasps appear                                                  less nitrogen — than the other fields.
crops improve soil-water relationships.      and the need for insecticides falls away.                                             The researchers concluded that adding
                                             And after heavy rain, it’s obvious that                                               nitrogen fertilizer stimulated the kind
ACRES U.S.A. Right, another aspect           water has infiltrated better in the parts                                             of bacteria that break down the carbon
of that abundance.                           of the field where the cover crops                                                    in the soil. The reason there is less
                                             were. Gradually the changes become                                                    nitrogen in the soil even though more
JONES. If there is a bare fallow             an integral part of farming — an excit-                                               has been applied is that carbon and
between crops — or bare ground               ing part, in fact. Experimentation and                                                nitrogen are linked together in organic
between horticultural plantings such as      adaptation become the norm, rather                                                    matter. If carbon is decomposing, then
grapes — soil aggregates break down.         than conformity. Confidence builds, as                                                the soil will also be losing nitrogen.
As a result, water cannot infiltrate as      ways to restore healthy topsoil become                                                They decompose together.
quickly. It remains closer to the surface    firsthand knowledge.
and evaporates more readily. Lack of                                                                                               ACRES U.S.A. That’s fascinating. Tell
aggregation also renders the soil more       ACRES U.S.A. What about fertility?                                                    me about David Johnson and what
prone to wind and water erosion. We                                                                                                he is finding in his research at New
have this fear that if we grow com-          JONES. It’s important to cut back on                                                  Mexico State University.
panion plants or a cover crop, they’re       chemical fertilizers slowly. If you’ve
going to use up all the water and            been using loads of synthetic nitrogen,                                               JONES. Dr. David Johnson is based
nutrients. We have to realize that by        then free-living nitrogen-fixing bacte-                                               in Las Cruces, south of Albuquerque.
supporting soil microbes, a diversity        ria won’t be abundant in your soil. An                                                He has discovered that the ratio of
of plants actually improves nutrient         easy way to transition is to reduce the                                               fungi to bacteria in the soil is a more
acquisition and water retention.             amount of nitrogen applied by around                                                  important factor for plant production
                                             20 percent the first year, another 30                                                 than the amount of available nitrogen
ACRES U.S.A. In the transition peri-         percent the next and then another 30                                                  or phosphorus. Sadly, in most of our
od from a chemically intensive system        percent the year after. At the same                                                   agricultural soils, we have far more
where you don’t have a functioning           time as reducing fertilizer inputs it’s                                               bacteria than fungi. The good news is
plant-microbial bridge, what are some        absolutely vital to support soil biology                                              that farmers use multi-species cover
kinds of practices that farmers can use?     with the presence of a wide diversity of                                              crops, companion crops, pasture crop-
                                             plants for as much of the year as pos-                                                ping and other polycultures — and the
JONES. Sometimes when farmers                sible. Another way to gradually reduce                                                ranchers who manage their perennial
realize the importance of soil biology       fertilizer inputs is to use foliar fertilizers                                        grasses with high density short dura-
they immediately stop using fertilizers      rather than drilling fertilizer under the                                             tion grazing accompanied by appro-
and chemicals. This is not necessar-         seed. Foliar-applied trace minerals can                                               priate rest periods — are moving their
ily a good thing. It takes time for soil     also help during transition. These can                                                soils toward fungal dominance. When
microbial populations to re-establish.       be tank-mixed with biology-friendly                                                   you scoop up the soil, it has that
If the soil is dysfunctional, chances are    products such as vermi-liquid, com-                                                   lovely composty, mushroomy sort of
the wheels will fall off when fertilizers    post extract, fish hydrolysate, milk                                                  smell that indicates good fungal levels.
are pulled. If there is a failure, farmers   or seaweed extract. Whichever path                                                    Oftentimes agricultural soils have no
will revert back to what they know ...       you choose to support soil biology,                                                   smell or a smell that is a bit sour. Fungi
chemical agriculture. You have to wind       the overall aim is for soil function to                                               are important for soil carbon seques-
back slowly and accept that it’s going to    improve every year. The overuse of                                                    tration as well as nutrient acquisition.
take time to transition. The key to get-     synthetic fertilizers will have the oppo-                                             The formation of humus, a complex
ting started is to experiment on small       site effect.

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INTERVIEW
polymer, requires several catalysts,        arrive in Australia talked about two                                                 ares of cropland and another 3.5 bil-
including fungal metabolites.               feet of black “vegetable mold” that                                                  lion hectares of grazing land. Currently
                                            covered the soil surface. Today our                                                  much of that land is losing carbon.
ACRES U.S.A. That is a really inter-        soils are mostly light-colored. The use                                              No doubt there will be — and indeed
esting insight. I would like to get         of color to describe soils only came                                                 there already have been — endless
some perspective on soil degradation.       into being after the carbon-rich topsoil                                             arguments about how much carbon
You’ve written about how lush and           had blown or washed away. It’s not                                                   can be sequestered in soil. In my view
green Australia’s landscape was at the      an uncommon story. Just about every                                                  it’s not a matter of how much but how
time of European settlement in the          so-called civilized, developed country                                               many. The focus needs to be on trans-
early 1800s, land that’s now deserti-       in the world has lost topsoil by one                                                 forming every farm that’s currently a
fied. How do your readers react?            means or another. In the States you                                                  net carbon source into a net carbon
                                            had your Dust Bowl, created by tillage.                                              sink. If all farmland sequestered more
JONES. They have a particularly hard        Restoring the health of agricultural                                                 carbon than it was losing, atmospheric
time believing that the southern and        soils will require more than learning                                                CO2 levels would fall at the same time
southwestern parts of Australia sup-        how to minimize soil losses. We need                                                 as farm productivity and watershed
ported green plants during our hot,         to learn how to build new topsoil, and                                               function improved. This would solve
dry summers. It’s fortunate that some       we need to learn how to do it quickly.                                               the vast majority of our food pro-
of the first European settlers kept jour-                                                                                        duction, environmental and human
nals. George Augustus Robinson, who         ACRES U.S.A. I read that in Australia,                                               health problems. I’m disappointed to
was the Chief Protector of Aborigines,      using the so-called best management                                                  see that articles are still being pub-
kept a daily journal for several years.     practices of stubble retention and mini-                                             lished in internationally recognized
Robinson was a keen observer. He            mal tillage, wheat production results in                                             peer-reviewed soil science journals —
made sketches of the landscape as well      the loss of 7 kilograms of soil for every                                            as recently as 2014 — downplaying
as describing it. In summertime when        kilogram of wheat harvested. Is it still                                             the potential for carbon sequestration
it was over 100 degrees and without         that bad?                                                                            in agricultural soils. Predictably, these
rain for months on end, Robinson                                                                                                 articles fail to mention plant roots, liq-
noted green grass and carpets of wild-      JONES. Yes, probably worse. I have                                                   uid carbon or mycorrhizal fungi. Many
flowers everywhere he looked. Sadly,        documented evidence of 20 tons of soil                                               scientists have confused themselves —
we don’t know what many of these            per hectare per year being lost through                                              and the general public — by assuming
plants were because we no longer have       wind erosion. The average wheat yield                                                soil carbon sequestration occurs as a
wildflowers in some of the colors he        in Australia is very low, around 1 ton                                               result of the decomposition of organic
recorded.                                   per hectare. We lose massive amounts                                                 matter such as crop residues. In so
                                            of soil to achieve it. The current situa-                                            doing, they have overlooked the major
ACRES U.S.A. Could you reconstruct          tion is not sustainable.                                                             pathway for the restoration of topsoil.
what happened to destroy all this lush,                                                                                          Activating the liquid carbon pathway
diverse vegetation?                         ACRES U.S.A. How much of                                                             requires that photosynthetic capacity
                                            Australia’s farmland would have to                                                   be optimized. There are many and
JONES. European colonists brought           increase soil carbon to offset your                                                  varied ways to achieve this. I have
boatloads of sheep which rapidly            country’s carbon emissions?                                                          enormous respect for the farmers and
multiplied. In England you could                                                                                                 ranchers who have done what the
have sheep in continual contact with        JONES. It would require only half                                                    experts say can’t be done. If we have
the grass and it didn’t matter great-       a percent increase in soil carbon on                                                 a future, it will be largely due to the
ly because it nearly always rained.         2 percent of our agricultural land to                                                courage and determination of these
Australian weather tends to oscillate       sequester all Australia’s CO2 emissions.                                             individuals.
between drought and flooding rain and       Our emissions are low in relation to
the English weren’t used to that. By the    our land area because we have a rela-                                                ACRES U.S.A. You initiated the
late 1800s there were many millions of      tively small population.                                                             Australian Soil Carbon Accreditation
sheep in Australia, grazing the grass-                                                                                           Scheme (ASCAS). I’m quite impressed
lands down to bare earth in the dry         ACRES U.S.A. Do you have any                                                         that one person started something like
periods. When it rained, the unpro-         idea worldwide how much farmland                                                     that.
tected soil washed away. The river          would have to be managed differently
systems and wetlands filled with sedi-      to increase soil carbon sufficiently to                                              JONES. I launched ASCAS in 2007 out
ment. We’re now farming on subsoil.         reverse global climate change or offset                                              of frustration that the federal govern-
We’ve lost around 2 to 3 feet of topsoil    greenhouse gases?                                                                    ment wasn’t doing anything to reward
across the whole country. The original                                                                                           innovation in land management. I
soil was so well aggregated that aborig-    JONES. Agriculture is the major land                                                 wanted to demonstrate that leading-
inal people could dig in it with their      use across the globe. According to the                                               edge farmers could build carbon in
bare hands. The first Europeans to          FAO there are around 1.5 billion hect-                                               their soils and be financially rewarded

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for doing so. But my attempts were          form mycorrhizal associations that                                                  JONES. With weather events becom-
blocked at every level, including being     help them survive. The grasses soon                                                 ing more extreme our farming systems
subjected to public ridicule. I suspect     create their own microclimate. It’s an                                              need to be more resilient. Again, this
much of the resistance stemmed from         absolute delight to see these patches                                               is where having carbon sequestered
the fact that Australia was importing       of green in an otherwise parched land-                                              in soil to maintain aggregate stabil-
over $40 billion worth of farm chemi-       scape. It helps us understand how the                                               ity and improve infiltration is vitally
cals and policy-makers saw that as a big    countryside encountered by the first                                                important. If we look at flooding on
business. They realized that in order       European settlers was able to remain                                                the Mississippi, for example, we see
to build soil carbon, farmers would         green over the summer.                                                              that the mean maximum and mean
need to reduce chemical use. There                                                                                              minimum water levels from the early
were other issues too. Australia ratified   ACRES U.S.A. At the People’s                                                        1800s to the present show an increas-
the Kyoto Protocol nine months after        Climate March in New York City, a                                                   ing perturbation since the dust bowl
the launch of ASCAS. Under Kyoto            large contingent of vegan activists car-                                            era of the 1930s. That is, the highs are
Protocols, the issuance of carbon cred-     ried signs blaming cattle as a major                                                becoming higher — floods are more
its requires adherence to the 100 year      cause of global warming. What are                                                   severe — and the lows are getting
rule, which basically means that any        your thoughts on targeting ruminants                                                lower — the river doesn’t ‘run’ as much
payment for soil carbon must be regis-      for greenhouse gas emissions?                                                       as it used to. This boom-bust situation
tered on the land title and the money                                                                                           is due to inappropriate land manage-
refunded if for any reason the carbon       JONES. There were more ruminants                                                    ment. If soil is in good condition,
levels fall over the ensuing 100 years.     on the planet 200 years ago than there                                              water infiltrates rapidly and is held in
Then there’s the additionality rule,        are now, but we’ve gone from free-                                                  the soil profile. Some of this water is
which states farmers cannot be paid         ranging herds to animals in confine-                                                used for plant production and some
for changes in land management that         ment. That changes everything. Firstly,                                             will move downward through the soil
they would have made anyway, or that        we’re growing feed for these animals                                                to replenish the transmissive aquifers
result in higher profits.                   using fossil-fuel intensive methods and                                             that feed springs and small streams,
                                            secondly, confinement feeding creates                                               enabling year-round, moderated base-
ACRES U.S.A. You said this story has        a disconnect between ruminants and                                                  flow to river systems. If groundcover
a good ending.                              methanotrophs. Methanotrophic bac-                                                  is poor and soil water-holding capacity
                                            teria use methane as their sole energy                                              is low, rapid run-off not only leads to
JONES. Despite the roadblocks, I felt       source. They live in a wide variety of                                              flooding in lower landscape positions,
it was important that soil restoration      habitats, including surface soils. If a                                             but also takes a lot of topsoil with it.
pioneers be recognized. Late last year      cow has her head down eating grass,                                                 These days it’s not just soil, but a heap
we decided to discard the original          the methane she breathes out is rap-                                                of chemicals too — which end up in the
ASCAS model and start afresh. On            idly metabolized by methanotrophs.                                                  Gulf of Mexico.
March 19, 2015, almost eight years to       There’s an analogous situation with
the day after we launched the ASCAS         termites. Termites produce methane                                                  ACRES U.S.A. Causing the Dead
in 2007, our patron Rhonda Willson          during enteric fermentation, as hap-                                                Zone?
will present 11 Soil Restoration            pens in the rumen of a cow. But due
Leadership Awards at a farming forum        to the presence of methanotrophic                                                   JONES. Yes. The consequences are
in Dongara, Western Australia. It’s a       bacteria, methane levels around a ter-                                              enormous. And when the flood is
fitting conclusion that these awards be     mite mound are actually lower than                                                  over, the river level drops because
presented in the International Year of      in the general atmosphere. In nature,                                               the transmissive aquifers haven’t been
Soils.                                      everything is in balance. After the                                                 recharged.
                                            disastrous Deepwater Horizon oil spill
ACRES U.S.A. What changes did               in the Gulf of Mexico, the ocean was                                                ACRES U.S.A. Is adding compost
your Soil Restoration Leaders make in       bubbling with not only oil, but also                                                to the soil sufficient to turn things
order to improve soil function?             methane. To the astonishment of scien-                                              around?
                                            tists monitoring the spill, populations
JONES. The agricultural region of           of methanotrophic bacteria exploded                                                 JONES. Compost is certainly a fan-
Western Australia experiences an            and consumed an estimated 220,000                                                   tastic product, but compost alone is
extremely hot, dry summer. Winters          metric tons of methane gas, bringing                                                not enough. It will eventually decom-
are cool and moist, although not as         levels back to normal.                                                              pose, releasing CO2. However, the
moist as many farmers would like.                                                                                               application of compost to appropri-
Innovative ranchers have been plant-        ACRES U.S.A. When we talk about                                                     ately grazed pastures or polyculture
ing summer active grasses at the end of     the consequences of the increased                                                   crops can increase plant growth and
winter when there is sufficient moisture    extreme weather associated with cli-                                                photosynthetic rate, resulting in more
for germination, despite ‘expert’ opin-     mate change, like devastating floods                                                liquid carbon flowing to soils. Diverse
ion that it’s too hot and dry in summer     and droughts, all too often we neglect                                              microbial populations — particularly
for anything to grow. Perennial grasses     to consider how better land manage-                                                 fungi — supported by the compost,
have incredibly deep root systems and       ment can reduce their impacts.                                                      can aid in humification, improving

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INTERVIEW
soil structure, water-holding capacity      JONES. I’ve always been in tune with                                                to do an economics degree. Out of
and nutrient availabilities. On large       natural rhythms. I grew up in a little                                              the blue I was offered a scholarship
agricultural holdings such as we have       log cabin in what Australians call the                                              to study textiles. My first full-time
in many parts of Australia, it is not       bush. Here in the States you might                                                  job after graduation involved research
economically viable to spread com-          call it wilderness. On one side of our                                              into the parameters of wool that affect
post. However, compost extract, which       cabin there was a big lake. An estuary                                              processing performance. Unless wool
is simply the chemical signature of         joined the lake to the ocean, so there                                              fibers have an even diameter all the
compost, can prove highly beneficial.       was water on three sides. The fourth                                                way along their length — and high
The use of natural plant or seaweed         side was a forest filled with all kinds                                             tensile strength — they break easily
extracts as biostimulants is a relatively   of intriguing plants and animals. I was                                             and are difficult to spin into yarn.
new but rapidly expanding area of           very much a child of the earth. My dad                                              Wool quality is influenced by pasture
R&D and farmer-adoption worldwide.          said I had my own veggie patch when                                                 quality, which in turn is affected by soil
The advantage of biostimulants is that      I was only two. By that stage I could                                               quality. In a roundabout way I became
they function at very low rates of appli-   also apparently catch more fish than                                                interested in the linkages between soil
cation — milliliters per hectare — as       him. I just seemed to know where the                                                health, plant growth and animal pro-
opposed to a product such as compost        fish would be and what they wanted to                                               duction. I undertook a Ph.D. in soil
which needs to be applied in tons per       eat and what time of day they would                                                 biochemistry to better understand how
hectare. These products stimulate soil      be feeding. I was unaware that humans                                               plants communicate with soil micro-
biota and enhance plant root function.      over-consume resources and pollute                                                  bial communities. There haven’t really
The proliferation of roots is quite obvi-   the environment until we moved to                                                   been any light-bulb moments; it has
ous when you dig in the soil. There         the city when I was about eight years                                               been an ongoing process of discovery,
can also be rapid improvements in soil      old. I cried myself to sleep every night                                            finding the miraculous in the common.
structure.                                  because, for me, it was paradise lost.
                                                                                                                                For more information about Dr. Christine Jones visit
                                                                                                                                www.amazingcarbon.com.
ACRES U.S.A. Your orientation is            ACRES U.S.A. Did you study soils
extraordinary. I’m wondering if at a        because you loved to grow things?
certain point in your life, the way you
saw the world underwent a radical           JONES. At school I became very
change.                                     interested in economics and planned

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