Why you should soil your undies

If you go to this summer’s Manure Science Review, you can see why, yes, you should #SoilYourUndies. Soil educators around the United States and Canada are using the hashtag, and demonstrations involving actual buried bloomers, as a fun way to show how crops and farming methods affect the activity of soil microbes. 

Promoting soil health

Sandra Springer, western Lake Erie Basin nutrient technician with the Allen, Hardin and Putnam county soil and water conservation districts, will be giving such a demonstration at the event, which is July 25 in northwest Ohio.

“Soil microorganisms increase plant residue decomposition, which releases plant nutrients,” she said. “We want farmers to be checking their soil health in fields,” even if it costs them their skivvies to do it.

Zestfully unclean

Springer, for her part, will be displaying undies she buried in May in five fields around Hardin County: fields growing conventional corn, no-till soybeans, no-till wheat, alfalfa and hay.

They definitely won’t be clean. Which is good.

“The hashtag is just something that other soil and water conservation districts are using to promote soil health,” especially with kids, she said.

“As far as education goes, this is our first demonstration of it on the adult end.” (Photo: iStock.)

From a recent CFAES press release.

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