Healthy Soils = Better Profits

On Tuesday, I drove to Columbus to speak with state legislators about the importance of soil health. Why? Because I want our state to better support farmers in adopting conservation practices that will benefit us all. Through my involvement with the Ohio Soil Health Initiative, I had the opportunity to share about how we build soils at MoSo Farm.

Many of us understand the ecological benefits of improving the soil — including cleaner water, better resilience to drought or flooding, and increased biodiversity. Instead, I focused on the economic benefits of soil health. After all, altruism doesn’t get you far when there’s no money in the bank account.

To prepare I emailed Alan J. Franzluebbers, a researcher from the USDA’s Agricultural Research Service. I wanted to know:

If we increase our soil organic matter by 1%, how many more cattle could we raise?

He shared data from the Morrow Plots at the University of Illinois, which is the oldest agricultural research site in the country. His analysis showed that a 1% increase in organic matter would lead to an increase of 5,696 lbs of feed on 1 acre! Wow.

So I did the math for our farm…

• 5,696 lb feed / acre x 50 acres = 284,800 lbs feed
• A steer requires 13,200 lbs of feed to get to butcher weight
• 284,800 / 13,200 = 21 additional cattle. This would almost double our herd!
• $4,200 per steer sold as freezer beef = $88,200 increase in gross sales.

The conclusion? If we improve our soils by just 1% organic matter, we could double our pasture productivity and cattle carrying capacity.

Alternatively, we could purchase more farmland in order to expand the herd. We would need 42 acres to support an additional 21 cattle, which could easily cost us $400,000. So yeah — that’s not happening.

The caveat? It’s not easy to increase organic matter. It takes years and years to see improvements. But it is possible. And it’s about being in it for the long haul.

I reached out to a grass-fed beef producer, Jim Linne, who’s been grazing cattle regeneratively for 20 years in southwest Ohio. When he purchased his farm in 2005 the organic matter was 1 to 1.5%. Now, his organic matter ranges from 4.5 to 6%.

Given that our fields have about 1.5% organic matter, this gives me hope. With good grazing, thoughtful management, and a good deal of patience — we could see a day when our soil tests come back looking as good as his.

Ultimately what I hope legislators understand is that conservation practices are just as much about increasing the profitability of farms as they are about saving the planet. The more we talk about the economics of healthy soils, the more people will jump on board.