Sustainability – Soil Microbes – Calcium
The article "Growers Program and Growers Network" in the Early Fall Volume 37 Issue 3 of The Growers Solution discussed in detail research conducted at Cornell University which concluded that plant symbiotic soil microbes are attracted to the calcium (Ca) element in soil. Their research concluded that the need for Ca in soil to enhance the population of plant symbiotic soil microbes is very important. As the numbers of plant symbiotic soil microbes increases, the need for higher applications of fertilizers can be reduced very significantly. This effect results from Ca creating a soil environment that favors soil microbial populations which fix more carbon (C) in the soil organic matter. As more C is fixed in the soil organic matter, less C is lost from the soil as carbon dioxide (CO,) into the atmosphere. This trapping of more C in the soil results in less CO₂ released into the atmosphere is believed by many to help improve the environmental concerns of climate change.
After this research was published in October 2023 by Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, more research was released in May, 2024 from Northwestern University in Chicago, Illinois that disentangled the role of soil microbes in the global carbon cycle.
The Northwestern research showed that, when soil microbes consume C from soil organic matter, the source of C in the organic matter determines whether the C is used to grow more soil microbes or if it is lost to the soil atmosphere and eventually into the earth's atmosphere as CO₂. What the research is saying is that C atoms that are in the soil in glucose (sugar) molecules are used differently by the soil microbes than the C atoms that are in the soil in lignin (fiber) molecules. Thus, the research is concluding that soil microbes act like growing animals. As your soil organic matter has more quality (usable energy), less C is wasted as atmospheric CO₂ resulting in more biomass (volume) of soil microbes.
Therefore, as the crop tissue, which becomes soil organic matter, has more energy and less fiber, the soil microbes grow more tissue volume with less waste going into the environment. That result sounds very similar to a profitable livestock operation or a healthy individual eating out of Grandma's garden. In my opinion, Mother Nature needs to publish this type of information on her website so artificial intelligence (Al) isn't needed to reveal this data to the human species.
This is an excerpt from the Early Spring Growers Solution (2025) written by Jim Halbeisen, Director of Research.
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