Our soils work best when the chemistry is in balance, and the carbon to nitrogen ratio is working for us and not against us. Balanced soils, fed with a carbon based fertility program, mobilize nutrients better, open up physically providing better drainage, and provide checks and balances for pathogens. As a turf grass manager, this saves us money and reduces
headaches!

To do it right is a process, an easy process when you follow these simple steps. First, we start with a good soil testing protocol, using a complete base saturation soil test, so that we can see what may be out of balance chemically. From there the basic cations of calcium, magnesium and potassium are managed to a point where the percentage of each allows the soil to flocculate. This is not difficult. Possibly a little high calcium limestone is called for, or potassium sulfate becomes a focal point of the soil fertility program to keep magnesium in check. All along the way sodium and bicarbonates are being managed as well so that soil physics and biology is not being damaged. As the soil chemistry becomes balanced the soil opens up physically allowing more air and water to move through the soil profile creating obvious advantages in terms of water movement. This also provides a much better environment for beneficial soil micro-organisms to proliferate and do what they do best which is make nutrients available to the plant. Additionally, it builds soil humus which makes for better water holding capacity. Lastly, and perhaps most importantly, it can help fight off pest problems.

So where does or second step, carbon based fertility, come into play and what is it exactly? The available fraction of carbon (humus) in the soil is what makes the whole soil work and it addresses one of the most basic agronomic principles the carbon to nitrogen ratio. When we put nitrogen on the soil it has to be broken down into a form that the plant can actually use. So for example, that pound of urea that you applied this spring needed to go from a urea molecule to an ammonium, to a nitrite and then ultimately to a nitrate form of nitrogen in order for the plant to take it into its cells so that it can start using it as a part of the photosynthesis process. This process doesn't just happen! Soil microbes perform it mechanically, and as is true in any mechanical process it requires energy or fuel. Just like your body does if you want to run it all day long or your truck does if you want to drive it down the highway. Where does this fuel come from? It comes from the available fractions of carbon in the soil, and with each application of synthetic nitrogen that we apply to the soil we burn up some of this fuel running the tank toward empty. Eventually, just like our body or truck we start to run our tank dry and then we start to slow down. When this happens in the soil the root system keeps growing, but the soil microbes no longer have the energy to completely digest the heavy roots system and we build up undesirable thatch.

By building a fertility program that incorporates at least some available carbon through application we can balance and feed this important carbon to nitrogen ratio in the soil. This allows for a reduction of total nitrogen application that helps the soil physically and biologically and also helps our budgets. If your business is in providing lawn care applications to customers it is imperative that you find a way to create this level of carbon in your clients' soils so that you can reduce costs and build profit margins. On the golf course or athletic field the business model is the same, having a carbon based fertility program has proven to reduce inputs but more importantly builds the kind of buffers that has gotten us through these horrible summer months that seem to have become the norm.

There are a number of ways commercially to get carbon in your program but be warned not all products are built the same. A good carbon based fertilizer (organic fertilizers) has gone through a digestion, is composted, and best of all enhanced with other forms of carbon like molasses for quick energy and humic acids for sustainable carbon. When carbon products are pasteurized, like most sludge products are, the carbon becomes much less available and the biological value is limited. Meal products are high in protein (nitrogen) but have never been biologically digested which means your soil must do the work of the compost pile taking energy away from your plants.

Contributed by Joel Simmons, owner of EarthWorks, llc.