90 seconds to discover a new "Hope in healthy soil"

I am proud to be a “soil health geek.” I didn’t seek to become a geek, but the more I’ve learned about our living and life-giving soil, the more I’ve become convinced this miracle under our feet holds the promise of our future.

That’s why I was genuinely excited to write and produce a new 90-second web public service ad titled The Hope in Healthy Soil, which is part of USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service’s Unlock the Secrets in the Soil Campaign. The video is also part of our agency’s International Year of Soils celebration.

Like many of you, I have come to realize that without healthy soil, life as we know it would not exist. However, for years it was believed that the best hope for our precious soil was to slow its rate of erosion—to retard its inevitable decline.

Fortunately, a growing number of pioneering farmers, researchers and conservationists have shown us that we can actually build our soils—make them more productive, profitable and resilient to weather extremes like drought. 

By farming using soil health principles and practices like no-till, cover cropping and diverse rotations, farmers are actually increasing organic matter in their soil, increasing microbial activity, sequestering more carbon, improving wildlife and pollinator habitat—all while harvesting better profits and often better yields. Off the farm, these practices are improving water and air quality, too.

Increasingly, these farmers are adopting soil health management systems, and in so doing, they are growing a new hope in healthy soil.

Which makes me a very proud and optimistic “soil health geek.” Long live the soil!

The views expressed here belong to the speaker and do not necessarily represent FAO’s views, positions, strategies or opinions.

Submitted by Ron Nichols