In Focus: Healthy Soils

This month, our focus turns to the health of our soil – how to understand it, improve it, manage and maintain it.

Here is a list of resources related to whatever you need to learn most about soil health, from free articles to our most recent issue of Acres U.S.A. magazine.

Best Books on Soil Health

The good news is – there are hundreds of titles on soil health! Each region’s soil is different, but there are some basic elements that will be the same everywhere. Here’s a list of bestselling healthy soil books from our Soils Collection at the Acres U.S.A. Bookstore:

Books stacked on wooden train tracks with yellow train car in background.

Great news this month! The August “Healthy Soil” Book Sale features deep discounts on items throughout the Acres U.S.A. Bookstore. That means:

Take some time to browse the Acres U.S.A. Bookstore this month and find the right titles on soil health – as well as farm management, livestock, healthy food, and more!

Free Articles on Soil Health

Our EcoFarmingDaily.com website is a free resource for all kinds of in-depth articles, interviews and how-to’s on regenerative agriculture. Here are a few popular articles focused on healthy soils:

Learn in Person

What better way to learn about soil health than to walk through a regenerative farmer’s fields? That’s exactly what attendees of the 2022 On-Farm Intensive event will be doing this Aug. 22-23. Gary Zimmer and his daughter Leilani Zimmer Durand will share their decades of experience growing regeneratively and biologically while walking attendees through their fields at Otter Creek Organic Farm in Lone Rock, Wisconsin.

On-farm intensive attendees in field
Attendees at the 2021 On-Farm Intensive walk the fields of Gary Zimmer’s Otter Creek Organic Farm.

From fertilizer bays to in-field compost mixing to carbon storage to soil testing, they will demonstrate the parts of their growing system that have made their farm a showpiece for how to adapt in today’s rapidly changing agriculture industry. Plus, attendees will walk a new 180-acre property they are just starting to transition to regenerative practices, and learn from special guests they bring in every year. 

On-Farm Intensive with Zimmer Ag
Aug. 22-23, 2022
Lone Rock, Wisconsin
Learn more at OnFarm.AcresUSA.com.

If your August is already booked, then be sure to save the date for the 2022 Eco-Ag Conference & Trade Show! This is Acres U.S.A.’s biggest event of the year, and has been running for over four decades. Every year, we set a new standard for innovative and practical learning in modern agriculture.

Eco-Ag Conference session in 2021
Leilani Zimmer Durand presents to a full room at the 2021 Eco-Ag Conference & Trade Show.

Attend the event to learn from top-notch speakers about tactics that build soil biology, balance chemistry, improve structure and integrate biodiversity like livestock, companion crops and cover crops. 

2022 Eco-Ag Conference & Trade Show
Dec. 5-8, 2022
Covington, KY (near Cincinnati, OH)
Learn more at EcoAg.AcresUSA.com.

Read the August 2022 issue

The August 2022 issue of Acres U.S.A. magazine deals with the theme of healthy soils, with a number of in-depth and educational articles, including:

August 2022 cover
August 2022 cover

Regenerating Soil with Betsy Ross
BY DENNIS PERZ
How we learned to grow pecans together.  

Soil Conditioning for Vegetable Production
BY AARON WEAVER
How to recreate an old pasture field… without cattle or horses. 

An Introduction to Humus Compost
BY EDWIN BLOSSER
Humus compost is a tool for profitable farming. 

…. AND MORE!

Buy the print version of August 2022 herethe digital version here, or subscribe here to get the magazine delivered to you monthly.

Stay Up to Date

Want free information delivered directly to your inbox each week on topics like pasture management, soil health and more? Sign up for our weekly Acres U.S.A. newsletter right here!