Soil Health & Biologicals
Historically, soil biology has not always been as important a part of the conversation as it now is. We have not always paid much attention to the biology of the soil. We now know that soil is alive — one handful of soil can contain up to 50 billion microorganisms, and the health of the soil is key to plant health and climate health. At FBSciences, and in the biologicals industry as a whole, we are driving soil health by boosting plant health, maximizing both the power and potential of soil
Soil health in indicated by a number of factors. The first is biological complexity. The more biologically diverse the soil, the better. Millions of organisms live in healthy soils, from bacteria and fungi to earthworms and actinomycetes. This leads to the second measure of soil health — the soil respiration rate. Each living thing in the soil is taking in carbon and respiring, and we can measure CO2 coming off the soil. This is a simple indicator of the respiration rate of the soil. The more organisms in the soil, the more biologically diverse the soil, the more CO2. However, it’s important not just to measure the level of respiration, but to actually determine the type and optimal quantity of microbes in the soil. The final metric for soil health is the percentage of organic matter– stable humic substances; glomalin, a gluelike substance produced by fungi; and suberin, a waxy material in the roots.
There are many long-term ways to boost these metrics and improve the health of the soil. Cover crops, no-till, manures, and grazing are all positive practices to help improve soil health. But to get the engine spinning faster we must focus on plant health right away. To efficiently, sustainably, and safely increase soil health, we can begin with plant health. Plant health is the primer that primes the pump of soil health. Soil health can take years to come to fruition, but plant health can drive returns for growers, (who must be the main drivers in adopting these practices) and therefore improve soil health, right away. Finding a way to improve soil and plant health, while increasing ROI for farmers, is the most assured way to ensure buy-in from farmers and drive climate change mitigation.
The key for building soil health through plant health is to optimize photosynthesis. We can do this by first starting the growing season with a strong seedling or flush, which promotes optimal photosynthetic activity. Once we are off to a strong start, the mitigation of stress will help the crop maintain optimal photosynthetic activity. Plants are primary producers of the energy available on earth. They produce food for soil microbes in the form of carbon, amino acids, enzymes, and sugar. The plant utilizes sunlight, CO2, and plant nutrients and through the process of photosynthesis creates energy in the form of sugars and a whole lot of other things that become plant biomass. Eventually, come harvest, most of that biomass stays in the field — in the soil. This biomass continues to feed the other microbes that live in the soil. The soil is an entire ecosystem, with primary and secondary producers, and everything in the soil at each of these levels is feeding on something that came from the plant. Most importantly, plant health is improving net photosynthesis. This allows the plant to take sunlight and carbon dioxide to create biomass. Stresses increase respiration, which is a discount or net decrease in biomass, lowering rate of photosynthesis.
FBSciences’ technologies improve plant health in a major way, increasing above ground plant biomass by 15% and below ground by even more. This increase in plant biomass is key in improving the health of the soil while increasing ROI for farmers, ensuring that this solution can be adapted long-term. Biologicals are leading the charge in sustainable, safe climate change adaptation and mitigation in the agriculture industry. Biostimulants and biopesticides are key to the promotion of nutrition and food security, while driving sustainable economic growth and human development.
