This week’s issue of Iowa Farmer Today features a guest opinion column by Kendall Lamkey. The focus of the article is the decreasing quality of Iowa soil. We argree with most of the article; the soil is our number one resource, soil gets treated like dirt, Iowa soil is being depleted rapidly, and organic matter does not get enough focus.

He is also right on track that the degradation of the soil is linked to human health, plant production, and water quality. I am not sure that we necessarily need new approaches to preserve and maintain the soil. We need to do a better job of marketing the basics of fertility and soil management.

Soil management is not easy, sexy, or exciting. There is no instant gratification like with tillage (which generally degrades the soil). There is no sense of accomplishment like watching the corn emerge through the soil. Understanding cations and anions takes more time than 0.7 x yield goal. Soil management is hard, that’s why most people ignore it.

Calcium Products is committed to helping you improve your soils. We have been doing it for over ten years. SuperCal 98G and SuperCal SO4 are key components to improving your soil. We have developed these products to make the old hard and difficult process of amending the soil easy and efficient. Keep checking back, we’ll continue to bring you information and ideas to improve your soil, yields, and bottom line.