In this episode of In Search of Soil, we’re talking to Italian soil Scientist Dr. Adriano Sofo to shed some light on the importance of soil macrofauna, earthworms, beetles, ants, and the like, and their roles in building healthier soil for more sustainable agriculture.

Dr. Adriano Sofo is an associate professor in the University of Basilicata in Matera, Italy. Cited more than four thousand times, his research interests include plant-soil interactions, biogeochemistry, and environmental botany. With a passion for educating, he believes that information dissemination is the key to creating a more sustainable and regenerative agricultural landscape.

List of Dr. Adriano Sofo’s Works

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• Traditional agricultural practices that deplete soil organic matter and biodiversity (01:45)
• How Dr. Sofo defines minimum till (05:23)
• The band of soil that plays the greatest role in agronomy and the band of soil you don’t want to disturb (07:04)
• Incorporating organic matter into the soil vs. leaving organic matter on the soil surface (10:07)
• Completely wet soil vs. wet soil surface: is there a difference in plant health? (14:05)
  • It all depends on the root morphology and root architecture (18:15)
• How different irrigation systems can affect plant growth (19:33)
• Will tillage dry out soil faster? (24:50)
• Why isn’t sustainable agriculture viewed as a better option? Why do farmers still subscribe to conventional farming practices? (27:33)
  • The soil has as much carbon as the biosphere and the atmosphere (32:38)
• The importance of soil microfauna, mesofauna, macrofauna, and megafauna (33:28)
• The roles that earthworms play in soil health (39:00)
• What roles do ants play in soil health? (42:15)
• Who aerates the soil more, earthworms or ants? (44:31)
• How to increase the earthworm population in your soils (47:42)
• Why does the soil collapse with tillage but maintains its structure with the macrofauna? (49:52)
• Speeding up the reversal of compaction (57:01)
  • Aerating the soil with a broadfork (59:59)
• Is it possible to get to a point where you can let nature take care of the soil? (01:01:17)
• Choosing the gentle approach over the harsh approach (01:05:10)
• Organic matter in soil: layering vs. mixing (01:06:18)
• Defining sustainable agriculture today (01:09:57)
• What Dr. Adriano Sofo wants farmers to know (01:11:18)

In this episode of In Search of Soil, we’re talking to one of the pioneers in developing probiotic technology, Dr. Matthew Wood, to shed some light on what efficient microbes (EM) are, what they do to the soil, and how our soils can benefit from adding them.

Dr. Matthew Wood earned his Bachelor’s degree in Soil and Atmospheric Sciences from the University of Missouri-Columbia and his Master’s degree working under Dr. Teruo Higa from the University of Ryukus in Okinawa, Japan. His work in probiotics resulted in global engagements in many fields including microbiology, agriculture, and human health. In 2004, he founded SCD Probiotics where they develop and commercialize consortia fermentation technologies for multiple industries.

More on microbes at SCD Probiotics: https://www.scdprobiotics.com/

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• Dr. Matthew Wood’s interest in the soil sciences (01:40)
• Studying in Japan and working with Dr. Teruo Higa (03:24)
• Notable findings working with Dr. Teruo Higa (04:43)
  • An increase in the diversity index (05:05)
  • Plant-microbe communication (06:53)
• What is EM? (08:35)
• The concept of consortia in the context of microbes (11:25)
• The whole is greater than the sum of individual parts (12:28)
• The question of the purity of cultures (15:11)
• What happens in the transition microbes go through (16:22)
• Cultured microbes adapting to the soil pH (19:25)
• Stimulating the biology in the soil (22:17)
• Observing a single microorganism would yield different findings versus observed together with other microorganisms (25:45)
• What EM will do to the microfauna in your local soil (28:35)
  • A potential reason why EM hasn’t been adopted widely (30:30)
  • An article about classifying soils based on which microbes were dominant in the system (31:22)
• How long before seeing the long-term changes made by EM (32:57)
• SCD Probiotics approach: biochemical products that act like chemicals
  • Breaking the business: industrial, agricultural, consumer (35:57)
• Culturing out mother cultures and lowering the cost per application (38:29)
• Dr. Matthew Woods’ SCD product recommendations to start with (39:51)
• Using beneficial microorganisms as foliar feed (43:00)
• Ways that beneficial microbes push out pathogenic microbes (44:11)
• The worry of whether the beneficial microbes will live or die after applying them to a system (46:42)
• What EM’s major groups of microbes do for the soil (48:44)
• Adding a mother culture to a compost pile (51:29)
• Beneficial microbes neutralizing foul odors (54:48)
• Sharing the built-up localized bacteria base (55:33)
• Dr. Teruo Higa: It’s not the presence of the pathogen that causes the problem, it’s the high population of the pathogen that does. (57:17)
• Can you go overboard with adding mother culture to your soil? (59:06)
• Using a mother culture to re-energize depleted soils (01:00:35)