Micro Growing Sciences (MGS)

MGS Presentation Series: First Look-Step 1O

Step 1O: "The Humus Story"

THE DECLINE OF HUMUS:

The decline of soils for agriculture production is the decline of humus which also includes the decline of carbon levels in the soil. This decline has been documented in long term soil research at major ag universities, which in part, has been attributed to the increase in disease & insect stresses for plant growing processes i.e. increase in costs & risks for reducing disease & insect stresses. The mainstream growing practices for obvious reasons of simplicity and convenience have ignored or deliberately chosen alternative methods for the reasons of financial gain and dependency to replace the value of humus and carbon levels. The pattern for the decline of soils or humus follows the illustration of how to cook a frog in a pan of water. If the frog is dropped into a boiling pan of water, the frog will immediately jump to avoid the danger. On the other hand, if the frog is placed in the same pan with water that favors its metabolism, it will get comfortable and do nothing as the water then begins to slowly heat up until the frog is cooked to death. This can be understood from the human perspective as the body acclimates to using hotter and hotter water to soak an ailment. The body acclimates to the hotter water and then can acclimate to even hotter water on a gradual increase.
The decline of humus has become similar to the “cooking to death” which has literally been the slow burning (otherwise known as oxidation) of humus. Producers get comfortable with the simplicity and convenience of those farming practices as humus is slowly oxidized or burned up. The slow process of oxidizing humus is easily considered normal by succeeding generation and the increase of related problems are easily excused by blaming the weather or "Mother Nature". Similar to the frog being dropped into boiling water the producer would have rejected the complete reduction of humus had it occurred immediately because the missing benefits would have been noticed immediately (along with a dramatic increase in costs to offset the lack of humus benefits). As the oxidation of humus has gradually continued to increase, the mainstream mindset views the direct correlation of humus to the potential of super yields, super quality, super soil health, super plant health, super net profits and growing input reductions as either antiquated or simply not possible so humus continues to be slowly "cooking to death”. Ironically the rebuilding of proper soil structure and humus (including carbon) produces the benefits that solve many mainstream growing problems such as compaction, soil crusting, side wall compaction in the seed trench, seed to soil contact, moisture retention, restricted root extension, unavailable nutrients, high levels of disease and insect pressures, etc. just to mention some of the correctable problems.

OXIDATION:

Oxidation is another term for a slow burning process whereas a fire is a fast burning process. Negative oxidation is when oxidation takes place faster than the replacement of what is being oxidized. Negative oxidation in soils is the net result of oxidizing humus faster than the rate of replacing humus as part of the normal and natural growing process. Main stream growing practices typically have a gradual negative oxidation effect on humus with modern day growing practices, products, and technologies.

OXIDATION FACTORS:

Nitrogen: It is very possible that synthetic nitrogen is the biggest contributor to the humus decline. The use of nitrogen, that correlates to the illustration of dropping the frog into a pan of boiling hot water as a shock treatment, goes back to World War II when the U.S. military forces used high rates of anhydrous ammonium (NH3) to burn the high rates of humus and organic matter out of the soils on the Pacific islands to make it possible for building runways solid enough to land military aircraft. After World War II, scientists discovered that the large excesses of NH3 and ammonium nitrate (used for making bombs) could be used at rates to stimulate plant growth while only burning up the soil humus at a very slow rate. Over 50 years later the gradual oxidation of humus and organic matter has played a part in destroying the majority of soils in continuous crop production.
The benefit of increased yields vs. the gradual destruction of humus has been debated for years but the possibility exists that the gradual destruction of humus can be reduced by avoiding overuse AND replacing the humus oxidized to achieve higher yields. The proper use of nitrogen, so as not to decrease yields and simultaneously increase humus levels, is one of the most crucial management aspects of successfully transitioning from mainstream growing systems to the MGS Growing Systems without affecting net profits related to yield.
KCL Fertilizer: The application of KCL (0-0-60) has a double fold detrimental effect which oxidizes humus/organic matter along with being toxic to living organisms in the soil. First, KCL at a rate of 100 lbs. per acre, is the equivalent to 100 gallons of Clorox (8% chlorine) applied per acre. Keep in mind that applying only 4 lbs. per acre of KCL is equivalent to rates (2 ppm) strong enough to kill bacteria in drinking water. Research has proven 0-0-60 to reduce soil diseases in such crops as wheat but failed to acknowledged that it (chlorine) reduces beneficial microbial activity.
Pesticides: The use of pesticides can kill or put microbes into dormancy and are antithetical to creating an environment conducive to high levels of microbial activity needed for the establishment, maintenance, and acceleration of humus. The management of pesticides is another crucial management aspect of successfully transitioning from mainstream growing systems to the MGS Growing Systems without affecting net profit. Roundup Ready technology has recently been linked to soil environments conducive for Fusarium activity in the soil such as Sudden Death Syndrome.

OVERDOSE:

As with many aspects in life it is the mismanagement (overuse in the case of agriculture) that is the basis for many problems. A simple example is the use of salt. The human body cannot function without salt (human blood has the same salinity as that of ocean water) however the overuse of salt can be poisonous (the definition of poison in many cases is simply the overuse of something in relationship to other factors).
There are many good intentions as to enhancing those factors that favor a healthy soil. However, without a systems approach and the goal to rebuild soils while simultaneously maintaining/increasing net profits, such improvements come with the sacrifice of net profits which is/should be unacceptable results. Fortunately, it is the position of MGS that it is still possible to reverse the decline of soils without sacrificing net profits not only during the transitional process but every year thereafter. The process of increasing yields is inseparable to increasing quality and net profits for successfully implementing the MGS Growing Systems. Unfortunately, the reversal process is not an overnight or one jug miracle process. The balance between continued antithetical growing practices and the transition to a conducive soil environment as per the MGS Growing Systems impacts the speed of success for the combination of yields, quality, and net profits. MGS leaves this balance to the management goals of all participating customers.

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Step 1O: "The Humus Story"

Next Step: Proceed to Step 2A: "Opening remarks"
Preceding Step: Step1N: "The Humus Advantage"

CONTACT MGS:

Contact MGS for learning more regarding the MGS Growing Systems, the MGS Total Systems Approach, and/or how to participate in the MGS Growing Projects or MGS Grower Training Sessions.

 

chuck@microgrowingsciences.com
(Office) 816-858-5836      816-509-4511 (Cell)

 

 

 

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