I am a Professor of Soil Science, and a lover of nature, the Earth, sound farming, the poetry of biogeochemical cycles and the dignity of honest human beings.
Joined July 2009
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- Followers 1,031
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75 Photos and videos
We often overlook the life beneath our feet.
But tiny animals like dung beetles keep soil healthy and our food systems strong. 🌱
As #COP16Colombia begins, let's push leaders to #ActForOurPlanet and protect the life which sustains us. 🌍 #NaturesTechnicians
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28 Oct 2024
Removed from gas 50 years ago, legacy #lead still contaminates #forest #soils near roads. Tires also emit zinc to contaminate such soils. Zinc, not lead, bio-accumulated in #earthworms. @UMD_AGNR @JEnvironQual doi.org/10.1002/jeq2.20642
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18 Sep 2023
#3 in #regenerativeag #organic corn without chemicals or tillage. Progressing nicely. youtube.com/watch?v=sg_MIeN3… Organic crop follows 4 transition strategies. But everything has to be right. Shot footage at the nearest (& best) of 4 farms. Corn at other sites looks fair to failure.
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11 Jul 2023
Stopping by the mailroom I saw this sign of a #soilartist hidden someplace in old HJ Patterson Hall! 🎨Beltsville silt loam tan, glauconite green, old #soilsurvey sample jars? Reminds me of when I found a handmade beta version of the Munsell #soilcolor book from the 1920s Bureau
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12 Jun 2023
ORGANIC REGENERATIVE FARMING #2: Soil Mulched & Full of Life as Organic ... youtu.be/qkbJikFpaF4 via @YouTube 10 days after no-till planting in high biomass living cover crop, corn emerges through protective mulch. No rain but soil is moist, full of visible life. Feels right.
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4 Jun 2023
Was worried about the long vetch vines wrapping around the planter wheels, but this wasn't a problem. Here's a close-up of the planter action (which was followed by rolling).
Regenerative Organic Corn No-till Planting Green without Chemicals youtu.be/nc9WbjVyzZo via @YouTube
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4 Jun 2023
Beautiful! Transitioning to #Organic #Grain (@USDA_NIFA)-corn bioassays 3 years of transition strategies. Amazing #soillife compared to tilled bare soil. Timing & equipment adjustment!
#PlantingGreen into Vetch-Rye #CoverCrop for Organic Corn youtu.be/Ju167AaO4rA via @YouTube
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21 May 2023
Sadly, yesterday #regenerativeagriculture lost a pioneer: Dave Brandt died in an accident. He was down to earth but looked to the stars. I gave #soilhealth talks to ~200 farmers at Dave's field day in 2015. Here's him showing his 30 yr #notill soil after 3" rain. Let us carry on!
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9 May 2023
Beautiful mixed rye-hairy vetch #covercrop soon ready to roller crimp. Each species helps the other & both help #SoilHealth & #corn crop. Thanks, @USDA NIFA & Kevin Conover of @UMD_AGNR research farm for timely interseeding vetch into soybeans, then drilling rye after harvest.
ALT Purple vetch flowers and green vetch vines growing on cereal rye stems.
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10 May 2023
This cover crop is part of a management strategy to #transition the land to certified #organicfarming so the cover needs to be killed mechanically, not chemically. Letting both species grow to full flower is a must for effective roller-crimping & #notill planting.
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5 May 2023
My students having fun (and getting great communication practice) introducing #covercrops and their #ecosystem services to urban families at the @UMD_AGNR's open house. The level of interest was encouraging for the #USDA_NIFA #Thriving_Agric_in_Urban_Landscapes project!
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26 Mar 2023
Deeply loosened permanent planting beds require double the labor in year1, but are #notill (and no-step) thereafter. Crop yields are doubled in the first growing season and for years after, while labor is lower due to no tillage or ridge construction.
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26 Mar 2023
Many #African ag #soils have a root-restrictive #plowpan at ~10-30 cm depth, often caused by annual tillage on wet soils. #Foodproduction is constrained by #water & ##nutrients available in 0-20 cm of soil.
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26 Mar 2023
Thanks @IsaacChavulau of Tiyeni, for showing me a few of the 1000’s smallholder farmers who have adopted their permanent deep-dug bed system, with contour-tied furrows and compost in planting holes.
Video starts in standard ridged field and pans to Tiyeni photos.app.goo.gl/Smd8tDkdjJ…
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26 Mar 2023
Our new paper shows aerial #Interseeding deep-rooted #covercrops early before #corn or #soybean harvest reduces #nitrateleaching on average even if stands aren't as uniform as those drilled later. Especially in wet fall (like 2018). jswconline.org/content/early…
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26 Mar 2023
This link to the aerial seeding paper should work:
jswconline.org/content/jswc/…
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19 Mar 2023
Getting started on @FoodShotGlobal #sulfur to @protein project in Africa. Soil fertility to enhance methionine. Conducted "job interview" over soft drinks in tiny roadside shop. #Beans and #groundnuts are in bloom, so hope to do #onfarmtrials with foliar Epsom Salts next week.
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3 Dec 2022
Barret was one of the most remarkable students I've taught in 40 years at @Universityofmaryland. A pioneer in subaqueous @soils. My alma mater, @MichiganStateUniversity, is lucky to have nabbed him!
1 Dec 2022
I'm happy to share my latest pedology publication: Application and evaluation of a subaqueous soil‐landscape conceptual model in the West River subestuary, Maryland. AKA, bootstrapping in soil survey! acsess.onlinelibrary.wiley.c…
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