Books in Soil Science

Dirt to Soil One Family’s Journey into Regenerative Agriculture

“A regenerative no-till pioneer.”—NBC News “We need to reintegrate livestock and crops on our farms and ranches, and Gabe Brown shows us how to do it well.”—Temple Grandin, author of Animals in Translation “Dirt to Soil is the [regenerative farming] movements’s holy text.”—The Observer Gabe Brown didn’t set out to change the world when he first started working alongside his father-in-law on the family farm in North Dakota. But as a series of weather-related crop disasters put Brown and his wife, Shelly, in desperate financial straits, they started making bold changes to their farm. Brown—in an effort to simply survive—began experimenting with new practices he’d learned about from reading and talking with innovative researchers and ranchers. As he and his family struggled to keep the farm viable, they found themselves on an amazing journey into a new type of farming: regenerative agriculture. Brown dropped the use of most of the herbicides, insecticides, and synthetic fertilizers that are a standard part of conventional agriculture. He switched to no-till planting, started planting diverse cover crops mixes, and changed his grazing practices. In so doing Brown transformed a degraded farm ecosystem into one full of life—starting with the soil and working his way up, one plant and one animal at a time. In Dirt to Soil Gabe Brown tells the story of that amazing journey and offers a wealth of innovative solutions to restoring the soil by laying out and explaining his “five principles of soil health,” which are: <ul><li>Limited Disturbance</li><li>Armor</li><li>Diversity</li><li>Living Roots</li><li>Integrated Animals</li></ul> The Brown’s Ranch model, developed over twenty years of experimentation and refinement, focuses on regenerating resources by continuously enhancing the living biology in the soil. Using regenerative agricultural principles, Brown’s Ranch has grown several inches of new topsoil in only twenty years! The 5,000-acre ranch profitably produces a wide variety of cash crops and cover crops as well as grass-finished beef and lamb, pastured laying hens, broilers, and pastured pork, all marketed directly to consumers. The key is how we think, Brown says. In the industrial agricultural model, all thoughts are focused on killing things. But that mindset was also killing diversity, soil, and profit, Brown realized. Now he channels his creative thinking toward how he can get more life on the land—more plants, animals, and beneficial insects. “The greatest roadblock to solving a problem,” Brown says, “is the human mind.” See Gabe Brown―author and farmer―in the award-winning documentaries Kiss the Ground and Common Ground!

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Growing a Revolution Bringing Our Soil Back to Life

Finalist for the PEN/E. O. Wilson Literary Science Writing Award "A call to action that underscores a common goal: to change the world from the ground up." —Dan Barber, author of The Third Plate For centuries, agricultural practices have eroded the soil that farming depends on, stripping it of the organic matter vital to its productivity. Now conventional agriculture is threatening disaster for the world’s growing population. In Growing a Revolution, geologist David R. Montgomery travels the world, meeting farmers at the forefront of an agricultural movement to restore soil health. From Kansas to Ghana, he sees why adopting the three tenets of conservation agriculture—ditching the plow, planting cover crops, and growing a diversity of crops—is the solution. When farmers restore fertility to the land, this helps feed the world, cool the planet, reduce pollution, and return profitability to family farms.

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Soil Management

Farming continues to be one of the most rapidly changing businesses. New and larger equipment with technologically advanced systems demand greater expertise from machine operators. Although the new equipment is usually more productive with greater capacity, the manager must be more skillful in order to obtain maximum advantage of the equipment while maintaining profitability. Conservation of farming resources while increasing production and maintaining profitability is a challenge many farm managers face. The natural resources critical to farming are soil and water. Of these, soil is literally the foundation upon which the farm is built. For todays farmer to remain a farmer on the same land tomorrow, he must husband the soil. The price of land has risen and fallen during the past few decades, but the soil itself is priceless and irreplaceable. Once gone, soil is lost, and along with it the farmers hopes of remaining effectively productive and profitable. Topsoil is created very slowly, so the wise farm manager does everything possible to conserve and replenish it. Soil fertility and the amount of topsoil must be maintained. With the basic information in this book you can build a solid foundation of knowledge that can be used to make the most efficient and effective soil management decisions and keep your business competitive. We do not recommend specific tillage practices as the answer, because each practice is not universally beneficial. We do however suggest you consider tillage methods that recent soil science has proven effective. Each farm manager must evaluate this information then create a conservation plan specifically for each individual farming operation.

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Soil Management

Discusses in depth the greatest challenge facing farm managers today: managing the soil itself. Covers soil fertility, erosion, compaction problems, residue management, & the different types of tillage systems. Has illustrated explanations of techniques to test soil. Explains the structure & composition of soil, the different nutrients various crops require, & how to make up for deficiencies. Defines & classifies the many tillage systems practiced today: conventional, conservation, minimal, mulch-till, no-till, primary, reduced ridge-plant & secondary. Tells how to develop a conservation farming plan. Defines soil compaction, examines its problems, then discusses how to avoid or overcome it. Text also covers erosion - its causes & solutions, with details for conservation compliance. Finishes with a discussion of organic matter & managing crop residue to increase organic content & reduce erosion. CONTENTS: soil fertility, tillage systems, soil compaction, erosion, crop residue management, factors affecting crop yields, conservation planning, managing compaction, erosion control methods, & determining residue cover.

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Soil Management

Discusses in depth the greatest challenge facing farm managers today: managing the soil itself. Covers soil fertility, erosion, compaction problems, residue management, & the different types of tillage systems. Has illustrated explanations of techniques to test soil. Explains the structure & composition of soil, the different nutrients various crops require, & how to make up for deficiencies. Defines & classifies the many tillage systems practiced today: conventional, conservation, minimal, mulch-till, no-till, primary, reduced ridge-plant & secondary. Tells how to develop a conservation farming plan. Defines soil compaction, examines its problems, then discusses how to avoid or overcome it. Text also covers erosion - its causes & solutions, with details for conservation compliance. Finishes with a discussion of organic matter & managing crop residue to increase organic content & reduce erosion. CONTENTS: soil fertility, tillage systems, soil compaction, erosion, crop residue management, factors affecting crop yields, conservation planning, managing compaction, erosion control methods, & determining residue cover.

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