Soil & Crop Nutritionist Brian Arnall Helps Farmers Squeeze Profit Margins By Protecting Soil Nutrients

Brian Arnall, associate professor of soil and food crop nutrition at Oklahoma State University, recently presented at the Oklahoma Ag Expo on the importance of protecting the amount of nutrients in soil profiles, to farmers’ bottom lines. He touched on some of the main topics from his presentation, in speaking with Radio Oklahoma Ag Network Farm Director Ron Hays. You can hear their complete conversation from that day, by clicking or tapping the LISTEN BAR at the bottom of the page.

 

“When it comes to monitoring or reducing nutrient losses, as far as the producer goes, it’s two-fold,” Arnall said. “One, you’re investing in that nutrient. So, there’s already that input cost that you have. But, you also have the cost of application.”

 

Another point he makes, is that applied nutrients can sometimes get lost in the environment, and goes wasted having not been utilized by the crop. Not only are you losing out on what you’ve paid into it, he says, but you are also losing out on potential profits in the long run. In addition, Arnall emphasized the importance of proper environmental stewardship as well.

 

“Nutrient management and making sure that we as an agricultural sector do our best to keep the nutrients we apply where we apply them, is really important to the sustainability of our system,” he remarked, and suggested ways in which we can improve. “What you have to look at, is a multifaceted approach.”

Video: Evolution of Beef Cattle Farming

The Clear Conversations podcast took to the road for a special episode recorded in Nashville during CattleCon, bringing listeners straight into the heart of the cattle industry. Host Tracy Sellers welcomed rancher Steve Wooten of Beatty Canyon Ranch in Colorado for a wide-ranging discussion that blended family history and sustainability, particularly as it relates to the future of beef production.

Sustainability emerged as a central theme of the conversation, a word that Wooten acknowledges can mean very different things depending on who you ask. For him, sustainability starts with the soil. Healthy soil produces healthy grass, which supports efficient cattle capable of producing year after year with minimal external inputs. It’s an approach that equally considers vegetation, animal efficiency, and long-term profitability.

That philosophy aligned naturally with Wooten’s involvement in the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, where he served as a representative for the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association. The roundtable brings together the entire beef supply chain—from producers to retailers—along with universities, NGOs, and allied industries. Its goal is not regulation, Wooten emphasized, but collaboration, shared learning, and continuous improvement.