What is SOIL HEALTH?

Jay Castleman, Specialty Crop Market Manager • February 12, 2018

Without question, if nothing else, all of us in Agriculture have two things in common: we all grow something and we’re all striving for the best return on our investment!

One of my first questions I put to new customers is what are your objectives with your crop this season and what do you see as your obstacles between the crop and your goal? Well as you might imagine the answers are varied and specific to geography and the crop that is being grown. One answer that I wait for but rarely hear is “a healthy soil”.

The reason I look for that is because of the influence a “healthy soil” has on production and the efficiency of nearly all of our inputs. Let me explain but first let’s define what “soil health” is or at least what years of being in the field has taught me what it means.

Soil health is influenced by many things such as: soil structure, soil organic matter, soil pH, nutrient supply and balance, exchange properties, applied chemistry and biological health. It’s a synergistic existence between all of these production influences and our Agronomic practices. If we manage each well then we guard ourselves from limiting factors and we have created and opportunity for maximum production.

Take for instance soil structure! Soil structure has a tremendous influence on nutrient retention and exchange, soil porosity and the exchange of oxygen in the root zone, the fixation and conversion of nitrogen and nutrient migration to name a few.

Soil organic matter has great ability to hold nutrient, act as a soil buffer a great source of carbon and a nurturing environment for soil biology.

Soil pH is the gatekeeper where resident nutrient solubility is concerned and one of the first places we work on when creating a soil environment focused on efficient nutrient exchange.

Nutrient supply and balance is important not only so we can meet the nutrient requirement of the crop but more so to promote efficient exchange of the soil resident nutrients. Over presence of one nutrient can act as an antagonist or interfere with the effective uptake of another.

Applied pesticides or sterilants can impact soil health! Over use or misuse can lead to unwanted metabolite residues and destruction of soil biology.

Biological health, what many don’t realize, is that this is the gatekeeper or at least has great influence on all of the above. Truly, in crop production we have ignored probably the most important part of a heathy soil in years past. We have taken steps to reduce tillage and use cover crops and we apply far less soil applied chemistry today and this has helped greatly but we are finally paying attention to all of the unpaid workers in our operation: the soil biology.

Different species of biology reside in our soil and play very important roles in water and nutrient acquisition and assimilation, the health of the rhizosphere, influence on plant growth and plant health. Biology can even help a plant manage stress and tolerate the negative impact of pests and disease. This knowledge isn’t necessarily new but how we support soil biological health is.

NACHURS is a leader in this race, bringing valued biological products into the market. Products that add efficiency and in the end a healthier soil, a stronger crop and a better return on your overall investment. Our Rhyzo-Link line of products focus on those objectives and provide a variety of ways to introduce specialized biology into your treatment program.

Rhyzo-Link is a highly specialized package consisting of our high quality core nutrients which are then fortified with our Bio-K Technology and packaged with a highly specialized biological consortium . This product is BUILT with PURPOSE !

This HIGHLY SPECIALIZED CONSORTIM, as I call it, is an All Start Team of pure cultured, highly populated rhizobacteria tested and handpicked for their ability each individually and for the added value of their synergistic ability they bring into crop production.

This consortium can help crops acquire nutrients from the soil, even some nutrients that have been fixed for years. This consortium can help crops build bigger and healthier root systems which will in turn allow for a more effective acquisition and use of water and soil resident nutrient. This consortium can also trigger systemic responses in the plant that will impact stress mitigation and resist damage from disease and insects feeding. This consortium will support plant health and ultimately result in maximizing production opportunity and the efficient use of dollars spent.

Of all the big things that we work so hard on and do where crop production is concerned, it may all come down to a little more focus on the small things: the microbiology that brings it all together. Rhyzo-Link products, linking technology into the layers of crop production.

For more information on our NACHURS Rhyzo-Link products contact your nearest District Sales Manager, Sales Agronomist or visit our website at www.nachurs.com.


March 3, 2025
The Crucial Role of Boron in Plants
By emily.bookless February 6, 2025
February 6, 2025 
September 18, 2024
The benefits of maximizing potassium efficiency
August 20, 2024
The benefits of Zinc on Winter Wheat
July 9, 2024
As I travel across Canada, it has been great to see moisture along much of my path. Greener pastures and ditches in Alberta, lush spring wheat, durum, and lentil crops in Saskatchewan, as well as many triticale, grass, and alfalfa fields, are being cut from British Columbia to Nova Scotia. I do not want to forget those potatoes spread across our country along with many specialty crops. As heat and moisture have brought germination, emergence, and vegetation growth, our crop nutrient management remains a key to success as we monitor the “Points of Influence.” Crop scouting, accompanied by tissue or sap samples, supports crop-based crop protection and foliar nutrient applications. As we have been programmed to concentrate on nitrogen, we are putting a lot of pressure on one nutrient to solve many deficiencies and concerns while ignoring the balance of fertility our crops may be looking for. In this blog post, I will not cover all the nutrient requirements but concentrate a little on magnesium, as I refer to what makes plants green. This spring, a significant amount of discussion surfaced around magnesium, and several growers requested magnesium for their cropping plans. Sometimes, what is new is old; looking back, magnesium has been a big part of many crop plans for decades. In sandy soils, specialty crops, and our high calcitic soils, we are looking to balance our oxygen and moisture space in soil levels. To better understand what we are looking at, I have included a list of what Mg is responsible for as well as soil activity stated: Magnesium Crops require magnesium to capture the sun's energy for growth and production through photosynthesis. Magnesium is an essential component of the chlorophyll molecule, with each molecule containing 6.7 percent magnesium. Magnesium also acts as a phosphorus carrier in plants. Necessary for cell division and protein formation. Phosphorus uptake could not occur without magnesium, and vice versa. Magnesium is essential for phosphate metabolism, plant respiration, and the activation of several enzyme systems.
June 11, 2024
Welcome to June 2024. As discussed in our March article, weather is what we receive from above, and we do not make the arrangements. Again, what is in our control is taking our past lessons and applying our experiences to the 2024 crop. As we continue to “learn, unlearn, and re-learn,” we can better understand the points of influence that we can utilize to react to our crop's needs. With most of the germination and emergence behind us, we are looking to drive vegetation by developing the best foliage we can, capturing maximum sunlight, and amplifying plant energy. This energy will be the key to supporting reproduction and then crop fill throughout the season. This is where tissue and sap sampling must be utilized to build a balanced foliar program. Once we understand a crop's requirement, we can look at a demand curve and design a program to enhance plant health. Foliar applications are often a rescue, and not in the plan, as a tool, but are very valuable in utilizing soil-applied fertility through root activation. To better understand foliar applications, we must understand what we want to achieve. First, we need to have nutrients that can be taken up by the plants. Second, we need to understand how we will feed the plant, and thirdly, we need to apply fertility with a purpose. When applying foliar products, the rates will seem inadequate for the deficiency, but what is the overarching goal? “One of the touted benefits of foliar fertilization is the increased uptake of nutrients from the soil” (George Kuepper, NCAT Agriculture Specialist, Foliar Fertilizer 2003). As we continue to learn more about root-to-soil interaction, the measurement of root tips leads to a better understanding of how each tip, expressed through foliar applications, amplifies nutrient uptake. Regarding plant fertility, our ALPINE foliar products contain orthophosphate, which plants can readily absorb through vegetation. The potassium source, ALPINE Bio-K, has the benefit of smaller molecular size and a low deliquescence point, extending available uptake time. The ALPINE Micronutrients are also chelated, allowing them to be available for uptake by the plant. As for foliar feeding your crop, we want to apply products when the plant is best available to receive them. In the mornings, when the stomata are open, stay away from the day's heat stress. If a foliar dries on a leaf, it must re-wet to become available again. It is also advantageous to feed a healthy crop and fend off stress instead of waiting to see the stress and deficiencies prior to a reactive application. It is also essential to understand how nutrients move via diffusion. So, when we can keep our foliar fertilizer in solution for a more extended period, the concentration increases during water evaporation, allowing the fertilizer to be taken into your crops. Applying with a purpose is what I continue to strive to learn, causing me to read, experiment, and incorporate new ideas along the way. Take our ALPINE K20-S, for example, a 3-0-20-8S-0.2B-0.1Mn-0.002Mo blended foliar. Nitrogen works as an adjuvant to enhance nutrient uptake and increases the formation of amino acids required to develop protein along with sulfur and molybdenum. The ALPINE Bio-K, a potassium acetate source, increases plant metabolism, nutrient uptake, and feeding microbiology. As a result, the package, which also includes boron, is designed to improve uptake and assimilation to better equip your crop for success. When combining ALPINE K20-S with ALPINE CRN-B later in the vegetation season, we can stimulate crops to greater success. If the rain continues, this combination has proven to strengthen crops struggling with root rot and K & B deficiencies. I would also like you to consider working with your nitrogen applications, knowing that straight N is not always your plant's best friend. As we continue to look at humic and fulvic acids, along with Boron, Magnesium, and Calcium, in blended situations, there will be much more to write about in the near future. If you have further questions, don't hesitate to contact your ALPINE DSMs and Dealers. I wish everyone a safe and prosperous Summer ahead. Steve McQueen, Agronomy Manager
May 23, 2024
The Amplification of ALPINE F18 Max
ALPINE Liquid Fertilizer Blog
March 21, 2024
The movement to ALPINE’s newer in-furrow starter, ALPINE G241-S continues to happen across Eastern Canada...
More Posts
Share by: