Still Building Soil

Here’s a cool fact: we can create soil. It sounds a little boastful and almost over-confidant to say that we can actually make soil. I mean, didn’t it take millions of years to create the soil that is here now? Well, that whole “old earth theory” doesn’t stick with me, but even if you subscribe to the 6,000-year-old earth, it seems presumptuous to think that we can just make more soil in our lifetime.

But we can. And people have done it! We had a Soil Talk and Potluck out here last week and my friend and fellow pasture-tender Valerie said she went to a pasture management class a few years ago where an older gentleman explained how he built over 3” of top soil in about 35 years. That is pretty amazing. Let me do the math real quick…that is the equivalent of 22 dump truck loads of material per acre. Just amazing!

So how did he do it? By planting cover crops, letting them grow, grazing or chopping them and then doing it all again. Isn’t this expensive and time consuming? Maybe, but have you looked at the cost of a roll of good hay lately? I hate to see what they will be this fall after the draught we have had this year. Maybe a month less of growing won’t make much difference, but I am afraid they will get one less cutting. The price is bound to go up. Supply and demand.

But even if we don’t get the cover crop planted in time, and there is still plenty of time, we can always just do some better management to let our grass go ahead and grow before we turn animals out on it. I have been reading Capturing Sunlight by Woody Lane, PHD, and he has a chapter that explains why waiting just two weeks can make a huge difference for the grass.

Let’s say the grass has started growing and it is looking great. The cows are sick of eating last year’s rolled hay and are mooing at you each time you pass by their winter pasture or dry lot. I didn’t know cows could sound so miserable with a full belly. Yet, here they are, nearly begging to be turned out onto that lush green field just across the way. Can they smell it or is it just the green drawing them?

But you know that looking across a field and perceiving lushness is a whole lot different than walking through it and knowing for a fact that there’s a lot of forage there. From afar, it can seem to be ready. But if you take a walk, you will see that it’s just not that full yet.

Now here is why it matters on giving it a little more time to fill in and grow. Photosynthesis. Each of those green blades or leaves is collecting sunlight and absorbing nitrogen and carbon dioxide. Those things get stored in the roots as energy to help build more roots, but also to grow more green on the top side. If we graze that pasture before much energy has been stored up, the plant won’t have the energy stores to re-grow more green to absorb more sunlight. It stresses the plant and it will be much slower to bounce back. Do that a few times in a row and we start to lose root, the very thing we need to grow more green.

The best thing to do is wait a little bit. Ignore the bellowing and pleading looks. Remind them that they have good hay, plenty of mineral and water and they will be fine. I don’t think they listen, but saying it all out loud helps me not feel so bad. It’s kind of like when I pen up my dogs and tell them I will be back in an hour…I don’t think they know how long an hour is, but it sure makes me feel better to remind them that “I’ll be right back!”

But right now, the grass is green and truly lush in certain pastures, so the cows are grazing. We were even able to turn the two steers back in with the “herd”. Hmmm, can you even call four cows and a couple calves a herd? Sure, what else would they be? So, my tiny herd is doing its part to help build more soil. Every cow plop is loaded with bacteria that will help convert dead and trampled plant matter and all that poop into nutrients for the growing plants.

Every bite of grass that the cow takes contains an enzyme that triggers the plant to grow more root. That is, if the plant is healthy and not over-grazed. It seems tricky to know how much is the right amount, but it’s really not that hard. Move them when there is still grass left, I would say more than 30%-50% then let that ground rest for at least a month before turning them back on it. The Pros would say that longer would be better, but is that still true here in Florida?

It seems that so many things are different here because of our hot and humid summers, coupled with the sand bar that makes up our strip of the state. As I was getting ready for the soil talk that I was hosting, I got to questioning all of this and if it’s truly feasible to say that we can build soil and improve any ground. So, I text a very soil-wise friend. His response was perfect and just what I needed. “You can fix any soil, with care. Just put more back than what you take.” That is some amazing life advice right there.

I took his advice and got inspired, once again, to fix my pastures. My “milker pasture” is normally by best near the barn. My theory is that the milkers almost always have peanut hay available, so they never need or even want to eat more grass than the grass can handle. But there are a couple of big patches of pepper weed in them and the patches seem to be growing. I learned the hard way on a Bermuda patch that I need never ignore a problem in the pasture. It is sure to grow.

I started pulling it, but found that pepper weed has a heck of a tap root. After a couple buckets full I hadn’t made much of a dent in it, so I needed to come up with another plan. I was already mowing the front barn yard after the cows had grazed it for a couple of days, so I took a detour to the pasture and spent a few minutes scalping that section of ground so that I could plant a cover crop. There was virtually zero grass there, so I wasn’t too worried about hurting it.

My go-to cover crop mix got spread then I brought in some finished compost and lightly spread it across it all. Of course, I had to pick up all of the little pieces of plastic and envelope windows. This is the downfall of “composting everything”, well that and the auditors really frown upon composting your old paperwork and tax stuff. Who ever wants to look at all that stuff again anyway?

Today the sprinkler is on it because it’s already 6 pm and the rains didn’t hit us. Hopefully you got some. I am so thankful they are starting again. Of course, we get the humidity with it. Welcome back to Florida! In a week the peas, sunflowers, millet and sorghum will sprout. I will watch it grow and imagine the leaves waving at the sun and saying thank you for the liquid energy. It truly is amazing to think about photosynthesis and what is happening. A tiny seed becomes a plant and adds matter to the ground…from seemingly nothing. I love nature! Until next time, get outside and find something to be amazed by.