a national perspective on soil health a view from the ... · the most revered natural resource...
TRANSCRIPT
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A National Perspective on Soil
Health
A View from the White House
Soil Health and Climate
Iowa State University February 2, 2016
Jo Handelsman
Associate Director For Science
White House Office of Science and Technology Policy
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Soil Health
➤ A meeting on soil health!
➤ A meeting on soil health at Iowa
State University!
➤ What is soil?
➤ Why does soil health matter?
➤ What can we do to save our soil?
➤ Conclusion
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What is soil?
Photograph courtesy of USDA NRCS
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What is soil?
"Soil”
➤ a complex mixture of pulverized bedrock
and other minerals
➤ in dynamic relationship with living and
decomposing organisms
➤ soil microbiome is rich, diverse, and
dense — 1 billion cells/g
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Why does soil health matter?
➤ Foundation for food supply, buildings,
and health (source of 2/3 of clinically
important antibiotics)
➤ The most revered natural resource
throughout history
➤ Determinant of fate of civilizations
➤ A precious and threatened
natural resource
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Unhealthy Soil Erodes
➤National average ~2-5 Tons/acre/year
➤Rate of formation is ~1/2-1 Ton/acre/year
➤Some regions lose soil at 30-40
Tons/acre/yr
➤ In years of severe weather, areas of Iowa
suffer losses of 100 Tons/acre/yr
➤One year, 100 Tons/acre was lost in one
day on thousands of acres in Iowa
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Iowa Soil
Photograph courtesy of
Professor Rick Cruse, Iowa State University
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Projections of Soil Erosion
0
100
200
300
400
500
600
700
800
900
1000
2015 2025 2035 2045 2055 2065 2075 2085 2095 2105 2115
rem
ain
ing
so
il (
ton
s/a
cre
)
Projected Soil Depletion In Iowa
100 tons/acre/yr lost; 138,000 acres
50 tons/acre/yr; 10,000 acres
25 tons/acre/yr; 500,000 acres
5 tons/acre/yr; 10 million acres
From White House OSTP; based on data from “Losing Ground”
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Why does soil health matter?
➤ Food security — in America and
globally
➤ Greenhouse gas emissions
➤ Carbon sequestration
➤ Water conservation
➤ Pollution
➤ But we’re losing our soil. Rapidly.
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http://www2.epa.gov/ms-htf/northern-gulf-mexico-hypoxic-zone)
Gulf of Mexico
Hypoxic Zone 2014
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Soil Health Is Not New
FDR signed the Soil Conservation Act on April 27, 1937
“The Nation that destroys its soil destroys itself.”
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Soil Conservation is Not New
➤ 1938 Dr. WC Loudermilk, Asst Chief of SCS
➤ studied soil conservation across the globe and
discovered that
➤ soil erosion, deforestation, overgrazing, and
neglect destroyed civilizations, whereas
➤ careful stewardship enabled other societies to
flourish for centuries
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What can we do to save our soil?
Good news: we know what to do to stop soil
erosion and improve soil health➤ Contour farming to reduce erosion on sloped land
➤ Cover crops to reduce open soil
➤ Strip cropping with deeply rooted
perennial plant species (STRIPs)
➤ Mixed cropping
➤ Minimal or no-till planting
➤ Long rotations
➤ Alfalfa
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What can we do to save our soil?
➤ 1985 National Food Security Act (NFSA)
launched soil conservation programs
➤ managed by USDA’s Natural Resources
Conservation Service
➤ Between 1985 and 2007, soil loss was
reduced from a U.S. average of 4
tons/acre to 2.7 tons/acre
➤ Most of the gains were in the first 10 yrs
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Today’s NRCS
➤ New Soil Health Division
➤ Focus on soil health, carbon
sequestration, water-holding capacity,
land management practices
➤ Educational website
➤ Partnerships with Extension Offices
across the U.S.http://www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/nrcs/detailfull/soils/health/
?cid=stelprdb1237522
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What can we do to save our soil?
➤ Earth’s top 40 cm of soil contains ~860 Gt C
➤ Carbon in atmosphere as CO2 ~ 828 Gt C
➤ Atmospheric carbon increases ~4.3 GtC/yr
➤ Increase soil carbon by 0.4%/yr, could offset
the increases in atmospheric carbon
➤ At COP21—French proposed
“4/1000 Initiative: Soils for Food Security
and Climate”
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Soil Health—Conclusions
➤ Soil is a precious natural resource
➤ Affects every aspect of the Earth
➤ Soil erosion threatens the future of our
food supply and health of the planet
➤ We know how to save our soil
➤ Research, Education, Outreach, World
Cooperation can turn the tide
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Ideas to share?
Twitter @jo44
https://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2016/01/13/food-
and-agriculture-21st-century