Page 39 - RealDirtENG2020

Where does soil come from?
There are 10 main soil orders in Canada, which are then divided into groups, families, and series, to cover hundreds of different soil types across the country. The Soils of Canada website, developed by a network of Canadian soil scientists, is a great place to learn more about soils across the country: www.soilsofcanada.ca.
All those different Canadian soil types are directly linked to how glaciers moved during the last Ice Age. About 12,000 years ago, glaciers slowly ground rocks into ner particles as they moved south, and when the glaciers retreated,
they left that sand and gravel behind in the soil. Combined with climate, and annual cycles of plant and animal growth and decay over millions of years, that process has built Canada’s soils into what they are today.
The type of soil found on a farm— and how farmers look after it—will in uence what crops a farmer can grow, and how they’ll be grown.
DID YOU KNOW?
It can take between 100 and 500 years to build two centimeters of topsoil. Sustainable tillage helps rebuild topsoil by slowly adding organic matter from the previous year’s crop84.
QUICK
FACT
Soils have unique characteristics that can in uence the avour and character of grapes and wines. Wine lovers call this effect “terroir”.
DID YOU KNOW?
Soil comes from nature, so farmers have to work with what they have. Soil isn’t something they can just change if they don’t like it.
Isn’t soil the same as dirt?
In a word, no! Soil is a living environment that’s ideal for growing crops. It’s a complex mixture of small particles of sand, silt and clay, decaying plant residue, earthworms, bacteria, fungi, insects, and micro-organisms. In fact, there’s a whole fascinating world under the ground that’s just as important to producing food as what’s above ground—and farmers, soil scientists, and others are just starting to learn about soil microbiology and how it in uences the ways in which plants grow.
Dirt, by comparison, is simply dead soil. As such, the title of this magazine should maybe have been The Real Soil on Farming!
Why organic matter matters
Organic matter in the soil includes decaying plants, microbes, bacteria, and other microorganisms. It’s
a great nutrient source, a habitat for soil organisms, and improves the water-holding capacity of the soil. The more you have, the healthier your soil—and the healthier your soil, the more productive it will be for producing food.
Listening to what the soil is saying
Farmers have long been sampling their soils to know how much fertilizer or manure they need to apply. But new soil sensing technology is providing a whole new picture of what’s underground. SoilOptix®85 uses a sensor mounted to an ATV or a truck to measure gamma radiation emitted by the natural decay of soil. High resolution digital maps of each eld show their chemical and physical properties. More information about what’s not visible to the human eye means better soil health decision-making for farmers.
Chapter 6: Environment, climate change and sustainable farming 39