Prairie Giants Crop Report

The Prairie Giants Crop Report

Field observations at your fingertips

August 22, 2023

Taylor Kurtenbach

Soil Microbiome

Did you know that one handful of soil has more living organisms than the population of Earth [1]? The soil microbiome is all the microorganisms within the soil and includes, but is not limited to, bacteria, fungi, nematodes, mites as well as earthworms and insects [2]. It is responsible for breaking down organic matter, nutrient cycling, and helps to form a well-structured soil by binding soil particles together [2][3].

Farming practices, like tillage and crop rotation, can influence the soil microbial community. For example, bacteria are favoured in tilled fields where in zero or minimum tilled fields, fungi and other organisms are favoured [4]. A diverse crop rotation enhances the diversity of the soil microbiome [5].

This year, we participated in WinField United’s “Soil Your Undies Challenge.” We buried four pairs of underwear in four different fields with slight differences in agronomic practices on June 1st after seeding was wrapped up. All fields were within the Inglis region and have similar soil types. The fields we chose to compare were:

+ Typical rotation (Wheat-Canola) VS. Diverse rotation (Canola-Peas-Wheat)

+ Zero-till VS. Tillage

The carbon in the cotton underwear is used to imitate the carbon from crop residues and allow us to visualize the microbial activity in the soil. After eight weeks, we “harvested” the underwear to note the differences in decomposition. The more decomposed the underwear, the more biological diversity, abundance, and activity there is in the soil. Check out the results in the photos below!

The underwear in the field where zero-till is practiced was the most decomposed, where as the underwear in the field where tillage is practiced was the least. There was little difference between the typical and diverse rotation underwear decomposition.

Sources

[1] Soil Science Society of America. Biology Life in Soil. [Online] Available: https://www.soils4teachers.org/biology-life-soil/

[2] Kienlen, A. 2015. Say hello to the creatures that live in your soil. Alberta Farmer Express. [Online] Available: https://www.albertafarmexpress.ca/crops/say-hello-to-the-creatures-that-live-in-your-soil/

[3] WinField United. 2023. The Soil Your Undies Challenge.

[4] Kienlen, A. 2015. What happens above changes the world below. Alberta Farmer Express. [Online] Available: https://www.albertafarmexpress.ca/crops/what-happens-above-changes-the-world-below/

[5] University of New Hampshire. 2015. Crop rotation boosts soil microbes, benefits plant growth. Science Daily. [Online] Available: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/09/150903103617.html