Lethbridge College unveils soil donation

Jan 30, 2019

AAFC gifted 110 soil monoliths to the school

By Diego Flammini
Staff Writer
Farms.com

An Alberta school displayed a federal donation to the public for the first time on Tuesday.

Lethbridge College unveiled its collection of 110 soil monoliths (vertical cross-sections of soil about one metre (3.28 feet) in length that feature soil from a variety of regions in its natural state).

Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) donated the soil collection to the school from its Lethbridge Research and Development Centre. Federal ag minister Lawrence MacAulay approved the donation in January 2018.

The display includes eight of the 10 Orders of soil identified by the Canadian System of Soil Classification. The monoliths include soils stretching from B.C. to Saskatchewan, and the Yukon.

The collection will help enhance student education, said Edith Olson, an environmental sciences instructor at Lethbridge College.

“We are deeply indebted to AAFC for this donation,” she told Farms.com in an email. “It is a teaching tool that will teach today’s students, their children, and generations to come. Without leaving the campus we can see a diversity of soil profiles from many locations. We can discuss with the students questions like, Why is this one like that? What classification does it belong to? Why?”

The school also has plans to incorporate virtual reality (VR) into its soil education initiatives, Olson said.

“The collection will be digitized and then the images will be combined with virtual reality so that, in the future, students can not only look at the monoliths hanging in their display cases, but can don a set of VR headgear and experience the landscape from which the monolith came,” she said.

Viewing the monoliths may even help others develop an appreciation for soil.

Typically, people walk on soil without realizing what’s happening underneath, said Fran Walley, a professor in the University of Saskatchewan’s soil science department.

“It’s incredible how varied and beautiful some soils are,” she told Farms.com. “It’s more than just a picture being worth a thousand words. It’s unbelievable to see some soil profiles and wonder how they developed.”

LethbridgeNewsNOW photo

Video: How farmers are protecting the soil and our food security | DW Documentary

For a long time, soil was all but ignored. But for years, the valuable humus layer has been thinning. Farmers in Brandenburg are clearly feeling the effects of this on their sandy fields. Many are now taking steps to prepare their farms for the future.

Years of drought, record rainfall and failed harvests: we are becoming increasingly aware of how sensitively our environment reacts to extreme weather conditions. Farmers' livelihoods are at stake. So is the ability of consumers to afford food.

For a few years now, agriculture that focuses solely on maximum yields has been regarded with increasing skepticism. It is becoming more and more clear just how dependent we are on healthy soils.

Brandenburg is the federal state with the worst soil quality in Germany. The already thin, fertile humus layer has been shrinking for decades. Researchers and farmers who are keen to experiment are combating these developments and looking for solutions. Priority is being given to building up the humus layer, which consists of microorganisms and fungi, as well as springtails, small worms and centipedes.

For Lena and Philipp Adler, two young vegetable farmers, the tiny soil creatures are invaluable helpers. On their three-hectare organic farm, they rely on simple, mechanical weed control, fallow areas where the soil can recover, and diversity. Conventional farmer Mark Dümichen also does everything he can to protect soil life on his land. For years, he has not tilled the soil after the harvest and sows directly into the field. His yields have stabilized since he began to work this way.

Isabella Krause from Regionalwert AG Berlin-Brandenburg is convinced after the experiences of the last hot summers that new crops will thrive on Brandenburg's fields in the long term. She has founded a network of farmers who are promoting the cultivation of chickpeas with support from the scientific community.