How does soil actually function? Jon Stika of UnderstandingAg (recently retired from USDA-Natural Resources Conservation Service) emphasizes that all of us as students, managers, and caregivers of soil need to understand how soil functions as a living ecosystem with biological, physical, and chemical processes. All of us must become students of what makes soil healthy. It’s that simple and there are no shortcuts. Jon states from this starting point farmers, graziers, gardeners, and landowners will then be able to treat the problems limiting soil health and not just the symptoms.

In Jon's career as a conservationist, agronomist, soil scientist, researcher, and teacher with USDA-Natural Resources Conservation Service, an eye-opening experience was just how important biology is to the overall soil ecosystem and how carbon serves as currency to drive nutrient cycling, soil aggregation, and so many other processes.

Jon encourages people to not be overwhelmed by the complexity of the system but to start small, follow the four soil health principles, focus on one principle out of the four that can be improved, and experiment with that principle on a section of your farm, pasture, garden, or backyard.

A Soil Owner’s Manual: How to Restore and Maintain Soil Health is published independently by Jon through Amazon Books and is available on UnderstandingAg’s website.

Learn more about the Virginia Soil Health Coalition, join the 4 the Soil conversation, and read the latest Soil Health Tip Tuesday blog post at https://www.virginiasoilhealth.org/ and https://www.4thesoil.org.