Soil Health Workshop Ray Archuleta

There was a big crowd at the Soil Health Workshop at the American Legion in Faribault Wednesday with dynamic speaker Ray Archuleta. I knew of Archuleta's reputation as a dynamic speaker on soil health but I had never heard him speak. He truly is an inspirational speaker and very knowledgeable about soil biology and soil health. Soil is much more than a place to plant a seed. It is actually alive with microorganisms. At least a healthy soil is!

Archuleta talked a lot about cover crops and adding diversity to the dominate in our area corn soybean rotation. By having many different species of plants growing you get many different microorganisms living in your soil. That results in a healthier soil. Microorganisms can even eat weed seeds. My last soils class was a long time ago at the University of Minnesota. We learned about soil types, water holding capacity, soil testing and crop recommendations. I do not remember any lecture about soil health and the soil being alive with microorganisms.