As part of efforts to improve the soils and quality and yield of produce at Tobacco Road Farm we have been utilizing a biological inoculant made from locally sourced microorganisms. This inoculant material is referred to as IMO (Indigenous Microorganisms).
We must be as attentive to soil aeration as we are to assuring an adequate air supply to the cylinders of our tractor engines. Soil life, root growth, water and nutrient uptake are all oxygen-demanding processes.
As those billions of microbes in a handful of soil go through their life cycles living and dying, they are providing a constant source of nutrients. Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi are capable of passing both organic and inorganic forms of phosphate to plants. One of the huge differences between our cropland soils and natural ecosystems is the abundance of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi.
The following is how laboratory results are reported at Texas Plant & Soil Lab — other labs utilize similar terms.
Every farmer needs to have the confidence that he is on a solid footing, and doing all he can to supply his crops the fertility needed from start to finish. Includes audio commentary from Neal Kinsey.
At least one team of university researchers remains curious, wanting another look at soil balancing. Their work is beginning to reveal that farmers and researchers think, talk about, experiment with, and understand soil balancing differently. If those differences could be bridged, what new questions and helpful input might researchers and farmers find by working together?