1. One tablespoon of healthy farm soil contains one billion assorted microbesone billion assorted microbes one mile of fungal filamentsone mile of fungal filaments hundreds of microfauna: nematodes & arthropods, etc.hundreds of microfauna: nematodes & arthropods, etc. 1000 sq. feet of healthy root zone soil contains 70 lbs of dead microbes 7 lbs of Nitrogen 3.5 lbs pf Phosphate 1.4 lbs of Calcium 1.4 lbs of Magnesium.28 lb of Sulphate Continuous release of these nutrients improves crop production Dirt is inert, but soil is alive 1676 − Antonie van Leeuwenhoek, Dutch microscopist first saw bacteria with a single-lens microscope he built. He published observations in letters to the Royal Society of London. Bacteria were at the limit of his simple lenses, and were his most remarkable microscopic discovery. No one else saw them again for over a century. 1828 − Christian Gottfried Ehrenberg first used "bacterium” for rod- shaped microbes. In 1835, spore-forming rod-shaped “bacillus” were found. 1859 − Louis Pasteur showed that microbes cause fermentation. Yeasts and molds that cause fermentation aren’t bacteria, but fungi. Pasteur was an early advocate of the “germ” theory of disease. 1905 − Robert Koch, pioneer in medical microbiology, worked on cholera, anthrax and tuberculosis. His research on tuberculosis proved the “germ” theory, which got him a Nobel Prize. Men and microbes have been at war ever since. A Brief History Microbial Science Biochar Properties Microbial Colonization

2. Monocropping – low biodiversity Tillage – bare, exposed soil = erosion disturb microbe infrastructures no ground covers, no exudates no shade, hot temperatures, dry Chemical fertilizers – harsh, soluble toxic mineral imbalances functional mineral deficiencies trace element deficits Herbicides no exudate or ground cover collateral disturbance to microbes reduce biodiversity Fungicides, Insecticides, etc. no beneficial symbiotic fungi less water & nutrient capacity carbon & nitrogen losses how to culture living organisms not inert dirt or sterile chemicals create & sustain habitat, not productivity sustain microbe population explosion not just to survive, but thrive Physical environment: infrastructures Temperature: cool, not hot Air & Oxygen: living soil breathes Water: not too dry, not too wet Nutrients: microbe & plant food Establish soil mineral foundation Balance major minerals Complete trace elements Adjust Carbon/Nitrogen ratio Recharge Soil Battery : boost CEC & AEC Carbon-Accountable, Climate-Smart Symbionts & Biodiversity Inoculation with Microbes The world’s cultivated soils lost 50 to 70% of their original carbon, much of it oxidized into CO 2. Rattan Lal, Director Ohio State University Ohio State University Carbon Management & Sequestration Center Antibiotic chemical agriculture Probiotic biological agriculture A Brief History Microbial Warfare Biochar Properties PARADIGM SHIFT Microbial Cooperation Stewardship of Soil and Biodiversity

3. Soil sequesters more carbon than the atmosphere and plants Roots are intelligent communities of cells searching for moist, fertile soil… They grow, they sense, they inquire, they acquire, they moisten, they dissolve, they absorb, they adsorb, they share, they supply, they attract, they feel their way thru soil, they change course in a moment, in a constant quest for water & nutrients. water O O C C O O H H O O H H nutrients electrolytes + photons + electrolytes electrolytes − − C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C Boron is made in leaves by photosynthesis CO 2 + H 2 O = C 6 O 6 H 12 = carbohydrate + O 2 travels with Boron down into roots C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C Roots serve another function: 20% of the energy fixed by photosynthesis is exuded by roots to feed microbes 40% of the energy 60% of the energy 90% of the energy 40-60% of the energy C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C The Sweet Spot The Sweet Spot distribute sugar to the whole build sugar into structures store sugar as complex carbohydrates sequester carbon as biomass growth leak sugar into soil exude sugar into soil secrete sugar into soil feed on this sugar & other exudates primary food for the Soil Food Web proliferate on & near roots highest concentration is around roots best soil is around roots Bacteria Fungi Archaea Actinomycetes Protozoa Algae Nematodes Insects Earthworms Weight of Soil Organisms in top 7 inches of Soil organismpounds/acre Plant roots2000 Fungi & Molds2000 Bacteria1000 Actinomycetes1000 Earthworms1000 Protozoa200 Algae100 Insects100 Nematodes50 The Tree of Life If you’re not forest, you’re against us Root Systems of Prairie Plants 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 15 13 12 11 10 9 8 14 Grasslands cover a quarter of the land. UN Food & Agriculture Organization estimates grasslands hold 20% of Earth’s soil carbon stock. Much of these grasslands are degraded − U.S. Great Plains Northern Mexico Africa’s Sahel Mongolia Soil sequesters twice as much carbon as the atmosphere Soil is the foundation of food production Microbial Colonization Biochar Properties

4. Dr. Elaine Ingham H O H O O C C O O C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C 40-60% of the energy made by photosynthesis is exuded by roots to feed microbes Soil is the foundation of food production Soil sequesters twice as much carbon as the atmosphere Biochar Properties www.dyarrow.org/SoilFoodWeb PARADIGM SHIFT carbon trading carbon trading C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C C simple complex

5. PHOTO: Josiah Hunt, Hawaii Biochar Bare Rock Lichen & Moss First True Plants Primitive Grass Prairie Grass Primitive Shrub Conifer Forest Hardwood Forest simple complex Bacteria Fungi RATIO 1 : 1 1 : 10 1 : 100 1 : 1,000 1 : 10,000 : secondary digesters − break down biomolecules networks of mycelium scavenge nutrients, distribute energy & share information Average soil has 5,000 microbe species 25,000 is a healthy number Most crops prefer fungal-dominant soil, except Brassicas Fungi form spores the second of a two year life cycle Soil tilled yearly can never be fungal-dominant provide water, food & shelter for microbes Feed the soil, not the plants carbon trading carbon trading bacteria fungi : primary consumers − transform geology into biology − turn minerals into protoplasm PARADIGM SHIFT Bacteria-Fungi Balance Biochar Properties