Good dirt about healthy soil

Last Saturday, 43 folks traveled from the five counties and two Pueblos within the boundaries of the Valencia Soil and Water Conservation District to attend a workshop on healthy soil at Whitfield.

The workshop kicked off a nine-part series of outreach and hands-on learning about how improved soil health sustains plants, mitigates erosion and flooding, provides habitat for animals both big and small, and stores and cycles vital nutrients.

Thanks to grant funding from the Natural Resource Conservation Service and the Healthy Soil Program of the New Mexico Department of Agriculture, the free workshop aimed to generate “interest in improving crop yields and biodiversity on the lands of farmers, gardeners, and ranchers,” said Jeff Sanders, VSWCD’s Environmental Education Program manager.

Sanders explained the five soil-health principles at the heart of regenerative agriculture: minimizing soil disturbance, maximizing biodiversity, keeping soil covered, maintaining a living root and integrating animals. He described how soils become unhealthy, in a “downward process that begins with tillage, breaking apart aggregates, leaving soil exposed and removing topsoil. With the rapid loss of organic material comes accelerated erosion, compacted soil, decreased water filtration, minimal root growth and ultimately poor plant production, all made worse in the arid southwest, by increased soil salinity from irrigation.”

To help workshop participants understand the concept of the four levels in a soil profile, VSWCD’s Conservation Program Manager Michelle Dent made “soil horizons” for dessert, whereby the first horizons of humus and topsoil were made of finely crushed Oreo cookies, the middle horizon of subsoil was cocoa-colored chocolate pudding, and the lowest horizon consisted of Oreo cookie crumbs.

To illustrate how to maximize biodiversity with animal integration, earth-worm and frog gummies were on the “topsoil” of each soil-horizon dessert. The youngest workshop participant, a young boy, declared that the best part of the workshop was “the snacks, for sure the soil in a cup!”

One VSWCD board member presented a slide show illustrating how she converted degraded soil into a veritable oasis, using healthy soil practices, with the help of local healthy soil champion, Kirsten Couevas.

“We minimized soil disturbance by injecting seeds using Kirsten’s tractor.” The seeds had been coated with a film of microbes from compost concentrate. “We manually broadcasted over the fields a mountain of well-cured sheep and horse manure compost and some homemade mulch. Once the monsoon rains came, the water was percolating through the soil. Soon everything was turning green, and the soil became home to earthworms, microbes, and abundant wildlife that came to visit, and I was ‘one happy farmer.’”

Participants then moved outside to learn how to conduct physical assessments of soil and take soil samples. Tomé Todo food truck rolled in next, so participants could buy lunch and enjoy an outdoor picnic.

Next, soil microbiologist Casey Williams explained how good soil biology translates to healthier plants and how soils and plants interact through complex biological processes. He described how he first learned the “good dirt” about soil through training as an Apprentice Technical Assistant course at the Ciudad Soil and Water Conservation District. He encouraged those present to take the upcoming Soil Health ATA course offered by VSWCD on March 21-22.

ATAs will be paid, courtesy of an NRCS grant, with the hopes that a new team of soil technicians will expand the reach of VSWCD’s current soil testing program, itself funded by an NMDA grant.

The workshop grand finale was observing fungi, bacteria, protozoa and minerals in soil, under 400 times magnification projected on the big screen with Casey’s state-of-the-art microscope.

Of the 43 workshop participants, 35 percent completed an evaluation. Eighty percent said they would return for the district’s upcoming Field Days on Soil Health, running from Feb. 15 through April 26. Fifty-three percent of attendees requested that their soil be evaluated and tested; and 47 percent indicated they would sign up for ATA training in soil health.

VSWCD wishes to thank the readers of the Valencia County News-Bulletin, followers on social media, and diners at Pete’s Café in Belen who attended the workshop.

Soil and Water Conservation Districts across the nation were formed as a response to the environmental disaster caused by the Dust Bowl of the 1930s. Saturday’s workshop, upcoming Field Days on Soil Health, and ATA training are examples of your District at work in remediating soil health and conserving the natural resources of New Mexico.

(Teresa de Cherif is vice chairwoman of the Valencia Soil and Water Conservation District’s Board of Supervisors.)