Understanding the Soil Microbiome with Nicole Masters
In this episode, Kara Kroeger, a sustainable agriculture specialist with NCAT’s ATTRA sustainable agriculture program, talks with Nicole Masters, a New Zealand agroecologist and director of Integrity Soils. Kara, who works out of NCAT’s Southwest Regional Office in San Antonio, Texas, caught up with Nicole via telephone while Nicole was visiting a client in Big Timber, Montana.
They talk about ways in which the “soil microbiome” system that acts as a plant’s digestive system mirrors the microbiome of the human digestive system. They discuss how to understand the health of an agricultural operation’s soil microbiome, and they talk about ways regenerative agriculture with its focus on soil health can help mitigate the challenges to agriculture that come with a changing climate. Nicole and Kara also share resources they see as helpful resources for understanding the topic in more depth.
For more information on this topic, you can contact Kara Kroeger directly at karak@ncat.org.
Related ATTRA Resources:
National Center for Appropriate Technology website
Other Resources:
Integrity Soils website
Teaming with Microbes: The Organic Gardener’s Guide to the Soil Food Web
The Hidden Half of Nature: The Microbial Roots of Life and Health
Please call ATTRA with any and all of your sustainable agriculture questions at 800-346-9140 or e-mail us at askanag@ncat.org. Our two dozen specialists can help you with a vast array of topics, everything from farm planning to pest management, from produce to livestock, and soils to aquaculture.
You can get in touch with NCAT/ATTRA specialists and find our other extensive, and free, sustainable-agriculture publications, webinars, videos, and other resources at NCAT/ATTRA’s website.
You also can stay in touch with NCAT at its Facebook page.
Keep up with NCAT/ATTRA’s SIFT farm at its website.
Also check out NCAT’s Regional Offices’ websites and Facebook pages!
Southwest Regional Office: Website / Facebook
Western Regional Office: Website / Facebook
Rocky Mountain West Regional Office: Facebook
Gulf States Regional Office: Website / Facebook