11 January 2024

Revisiting the fundamentals of soil make-up and chemistry

This week’s episode of the Tillage Edge podcast is a repost of an episode from January 2023, with Professor Mike McLaughlin. Originally from Co. Antrim, he’s a Research Professor with the University of Adelaide, Australia, and is an Adjunct Senior Research Fellow with Teagasc.

Soils are the most important resource the human race has. Without a productive soil, there wouldn’t be any farming or food production. Understanding the core functionality of soil is fundamental to a management strategy for a long-term, productive soil.    

Prof. Mike McLaughlin talks about the basics of soil and how factors in soils help or hinder nutrient uptake. He also talks about the function of clay and how low pH can affect the very nature of clay, including dissolving the clay and affecting the cation exchange function of the soil.

Prof. McLaughlin says that when DAP is applied to the soil, it starts off quite alkaline. However, as the ammonia breaks down, it becomes acidic which can help with uptake in higher pH soils. 

Listen in below:

For more episodes and information from the Tillage Edge podcast, produced on behalf of Teagasc by LastCastMedia.com, visit here.