Kent Holle/bydesignsoil.com

🌱 1. The Foundation: Soil Carbon = Life

Healthy soils store carbon as:

• Organic matter

• Microbial biomass

• Fungal networks (glomalin, humic substances)

This carbon:

• Builds structure

• Holds water

• Feeds biology

• Drives nutrient cycling

👉 Carbon is not just storage—it’s function

⚠️ 2. How Certain Chemical Practices Impact Soil Carbon

Nitrogen Fertilizers (especially soluble forms like urea, anhydrous ammonia)

What we see:

• Rapid plant growth

• Short-term yield response

What’s happening biologically:

• Reduced root exudation (plant “outsources” biology)

• Decline in mycorrhizal fungi

• Bacterial dominance (early succession reset)

• Increased oxidation of soil organic matter

👉 Result: Carbon loss over time + weaker soil structure

Pesticides (herbicides, fungicides, insecticides)

Not all equal—but many have effects on:

• Non-target soil microbes

• Fungal networks

• Predator-prey balance (protozoa, nematodes)

👉 Result:

• Disrupted nutrient cycling

• Reduced biological diversity

• Slower carbon stabilization

Tillage + Chemistry Combo

• Tillage → oxygen exposure → carbon oxidation

• Chemistry → reduced biological rebuilding

👉 Result: Net carbon loss system

🌎 3. The Carbon Cycle Reality (Balanced View)

✔ Agriculture can be a carbon sink
✔ Regenerative practices increase soil carbon

BUT:

❌ Carbon cycling is complex and influenced by:

• Climate

• Soil type

• Management consistency

• Scale of adoption

“Improving soil biology is one of the most practical, immediate ways agriculture can rebuild carbon and improve resilience.”

🌿 4. What Builds Carbon Instead

Biology-first systems:

• Biocomplete compost

• Extracts & teas (when appropriate)

• Reduced disturbance

• Living roots

• Diverse plant systems

What happens:

• Increased root exudates

• Fungal network expansion

• Stable carbon formation (humus)

• Aggregation (glues soil together)

👉 Result:

• Better water infiltration

• Improved nutrient efficiency

• Long-term productivity

“We don’t have to choose between productivity and stewardship. When we rebuild soil biology, we restore carbon, improve resilience, and work with creation—not against it.”

We don’t have to choose between productivity and stewardship.
The soil already knows how to build carbon, cycle nutrients, and support healthy crops—we just have to stop interrupting those processes.

When we restore soil biology, we’re not adopting a new system…
we’re returning to the one that was designed to work from the beginning.