Organic matter was once extolled as the essential soil ingredient, but the availability of inexpensive synthetic fertilizers and the mass industrialization of farming after World War II have led to a serious soil crisis. What can we do to increase the vitality of soils today and for future generations?

In a live Chats in the Stacks talk about his book Building Soils for Better Crops: Ecological Management for Healthy Soils (SARE Outreach Publications), Harold van Es explains how soil health has degraded at the global level, and the steps that everyone can take—from home gardeners and small farmers to large agricultural corporations and food industries—to improve and preserve this essential resource. 

Van Es is a professor of soil and water management with extension, research, and teaching duties. He leads the Cornell Soil Health Initiative and has served as both chair of the Department of Soil and Crop Sciences and as president of the Soil Science Society of America. Additionally, Van Es is the lead developer of both the Comprehensive Assessment of Soil Health framework and of a digital technology for crop nitrogen management called Adapt-N.

This book talk is sponsored by Mann Library. Light refreshments will be served.