Why Every Farmer Needs a Microscope. by Dr. Mary Lucero Systems Biologist, CEO End-O-Fite Enterprises, LLC

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1 Why Every Farmer Needs a Microscope by Dr. Mary Lucero Systems Biologist, CEO End-O-Fite Enterprises, LLC

2 In the 20 th Century, society launched a collective experiment: What would happen if we grew more food on fewer farms?

3 We invested heavily in technologies and policies that moved people from farms to cities, and concentrated real estate into the hands of fewer people.

4 We didn t fully understand the impacts of our new technologies. More food seemed like a good thing.

5 The results became problematic: Food price inflation/quality deflation An epidemic of chronic disease Widespread economic disparity Concentration of income and real estate Growing dependence on assistance programs Climate change Soil erosion Massive extinction of the diverse microbial species that support our physical health, our ecosystems, our soil, and our food production

6 Today we have good evidence that the only food really capable of providing all the vitamins, minerals, cofactors, enzymes, prebiotics, and probiotics (aka microbes) that are necessary for staying healthy in YOUR environment is food that is grown on healthy soils, harvested, and consumed in YOUR environment.

7 Reversing food trends is a systems problem that impacts every sector of our culture and our economy Chapter 10: Lucero et. al. is open source

8 Organic growers offer potential for reversing these disastrous trends. When you restore the microbes to your soil, you launch a chain reaction of positive impacts, creating a better environment, healthier people, and a more prosperous economy.

9 If you think back to what we know of earth a few billion years ago, global warming dwarfed the climate change we see today. Dominant Atomospheric Gasses: Hydrogen sulfide Methane Carbon dioxide

10 The first life, microbial life, created the food, soil, and habitat for all other living systems. Microbes consumed chemicals to produce the first organic food.

11 Microbiomes (Communities of microbes) : Convert elements and inorganic chemicals to food for all other kinds of life. Clean and store water Manufacture nutrients and detoxify waste Defend living systems against pests and disease Build soil Initiate food webs

12 Crop systems are living systems. That thrive in association with billions of microbes

13 Approximately 90% of the cells in a plant are microbial Melanized Hyphae Fungal lipid bodies Fungi and yeast are abundant in, on, and between the cells of living plants Hundreds of blue staining yeast cells surround each plant cell shown. Fungal chitin Plant stoma, guard cells Seed embryonic cells

14 Microbial diversity and abundance are key factors that distinguish healthy, fertile soils from depleted or pathogenic soils.

15 When healthy microbiomes are present, wastes and toxins are eliminated, crops grow well, and foods contain complete nutrition. Image from Lucero et. al., 2014, Using Microbial Community Interactions within Plant Microbiomes to Advance an Evergreen Agricultural Revolution. In: M. Oelbermann ed. Sustainable agroecosystems in climate change mitigation, Wageningen Academic Publishers, 2014, p

16 A prokaryotic cell can divide in 20 minutes, so in a 24 hour period, the microbial community has evolved across 72 generations. How long does it take a plant breeder to select a plant line across 72 generations? How many years go into the conception, development, approval and release of genetically modified crop plants? In one year, the microbial community in your field has evolved, engineered, selected, tested, and released more new genes than the human race has either engineered or evolved in 100,000 years.

17 Microbial communities that support crop production: -Endophytes and epiphytes colonize plant tissues and create chemical signals that trigger plant growth, development, and resistance to stress. Contribute to aromas and flavors of plants. -Soil crust microbes convert atmospheric nitrogen and greenhouse gasses to plant available nitrogen and organic carbon. Exudates glue soil particles together, helping them resist erosion, and keeping your nutrients on your farm. -Rhizosphere microbes-interact with the plant to increase root development and increase access to water, nutrients -Free living soil microbes help create soil and keep air and water available in the root zone. -All microbes detoxify waste, contribute to the total genetic capacity of the meta-genome, and contribute to the biochemical armories that defend plants from pest and disease

18 What does a microbially enhanced, biochemically and nutritionally self sufficient crop system provide growers? $ Savings on fertilizers (Microbes perform all the functions conventional growers rely on agrochemicals for, AND they reproduce!) $ Higher yields Bioactive nutrition ($ healthcare savings for consumers) Sustainability

19 GROWERS WHO UNDERSTAND MICROBIAL DYNAMICS CAN INCREASE PRODUCTIVITY AND PROFITABILITY IN WAYS THAT BENEFIT THEIR COMMUNITY AND THEIR ENVIRONMENT

20 Growers who are oblivious to the microbial communities that turn rock into soil and turn pests into nutrients develop management practices that reduce the effectiveness of plant and soil microbiomes.

21 When microbiomes are damaged, soils, plants and the foods they produce are nutrient deficient, ripe for invasion, and prone to disease. weeds and pests become problematic. This image was taken from the open access publication: Lucero et. al., 2014, Using Microbial Community Interactions within Plant Microbiomes to Advance an Evergreen Agricultural Revolution. In: M. Oelbermann ed. Sustainable agroecosystems in climate change mitigation, Wageningen Academic Publishers, 2014, p

22 Growing organic may not be enough to ensure a healthy soil microbiome.

23 Fungi are often the first microbes to disappear as soils deteriorate.

24 Some Risky Management Practices Bare or disturbed soil horizonatal tillage heavy equipment Mono-cropping Use of -cidal chemicals pesticides herbicides Use of chemical fertilizers ammonium nitrate ammonium sulfate Use of genetically modified organisms

25 Some complicated truths Many risky management practices are approved for organic growers Some of these practices may save the farm--- some of the time. Some of these practices may benefit some microbes in some soils.

26 Regular monitoring of microbial diversity and abundance can help you determine the impact your management practices are having on your soil s microbiome.

27 An in house microbial monitoring lab can be set up for under $1000 Individual soil samples cost about $1 to process. you can have results in about an hour.

28 How do you know which practices are improving the potential for your soil to produce? Look at your soil. See the microbes.

29 Commercial laboratories can offer elaborate (and expensive) tests that reveal the genus and species of thousands to millions of the microbes in a teaspoon of your soil. FAME/PFLA s rdna Pyrosequencing New techniques are evolving daily.

30 Too much information?

31 Microbial communities change: With temperature With sunlight In the presence of growing plants In the presence of insects and predators With irrigation and rainfall Every time you spray something on your fields. With soil depth How often are you going to test them?

32 Many large growers test soils infrequently because it costs too much

33 Many small growers don t even do testing because it costs too much.

34 So while laboratory tests will tell you more about the microbes in your soil than you can determine with a compound microscope.

35 You can assess your own soil for less than a dollar a sample as often as you like, if: 1.- you have a microscope 2.- you know what to look for

36 Grower s content with a basic compound microscope, a simple tube rocker, and a few reagents can set up a laboratory in a corner of their feed room or their equipment barn for $700 to $1000

37 The equipment can last a lifetime.

38 Soil or compost can be analyzed any time you like for SAME DAY RESULTS.

39 Good times to analyze microbes? -Post irrigation Wait a few days until soil is moist, not wet. -Pre-planting Determine whether your soil is capable of supporting living systems. -Before and after application of any fertilizers, pesticides, or amendments -Any time you are diagnosing crop disorders/disease. -When showing your farm and your crops to others. Let your customers know their food is coming from healthy soil. -Before applying compost (Does the compost contain a diverse food web?)

40 Microbial Analysis for Growers -Web based training special conference rates -On site training-upon request -CCA credits anticipated

41 Now Let s Look at Some Microbes

42 Visit us at: Endofite.com

43 Thank you!

44 Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food. -Hippocrates

45 Agriculture... is our wisest pursuit, because it will in the end contribute most to real wealth, good morals & happiness. -Thomas Jefferson

46 If you desire peace, cultivate justice, but at the same time cultivate the fields otherwise there will be no peace -Norman Borlaug

47 Nine out of ten cells in the human body are microbial. -estimate by D. Savage

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