A Tale of two worlds Wow, back in dry, brown southern Texas. I returned from the green-green grass of the Midwest a week ago. I traveled back to my family’s farm for my father’s funeral. He passed away at the ripe old age of 87. My father witnessed the extremes of the depression, one –room country schools and outhouses to the now progress of on-line classes, (on the compute) and not the part-line telephone he grew up with. No “depression” as we know it, all thoughmore people are on govt assistance that in the great depression, and flush toilets that require millions of dollars of federal dollars to develop elaborate hidden pipes to carry our waste, or fertilizer, miles away to be “treated” and then applied to the land or back in our water ways. Back in my dad’s day the outhouse, and the backyard for boys, was a much simplier and healthier way, not to mention more affordable way to deal with our everyday human waste. Progress, well that’s a debate for another day. As you can tell, I may have returned with a little more cynicism than I left with. I grew up on that same farm and lived there until 2011. Life is simplier, cleaner, healthier and certainly less stressful there. I consider it a well-kept secret. If everyone knew about it, it would be overrun. Although that will never happen because people are accustomed to their conviniences; fast food, entertainment and all things available in a car drive. Now I can cook a great meal, probably quicker than you can go out , entertainment, well never saw my kids more entertained, and shopping well, the usps, ups, and fedex go by the farm 5 or 6 days a week. So in my mind, rural America is the greatest place to live and raise a family. What does all this have to do with microbes you ask? Not a lot, but the rytheme of life, the overuse of chemicals and the hamster wheel of the big-city were contrasted and compared while I had 3 weeks to relax and listen to the birds on my parent’s back porch. How did we come to this place in our history? Why so much “food” grown in Iowa and all across the fruited plain, and more people obese and sickly than about any time in our modern history. Our soil IS the foundation of everything we eat. The statement has been made, rightly so, you are what you eat. Well then it was you are what you eat eats. Now I will go one step further, for us carnivores; you are what you eat eats eats. Yes I am referring to what our plants eat. They eat what comes from the ground; the fertilizer and enzyemes and complicated bacteria and fungi that are in every acre of soil all across our country. Most of which is now “farmed” and only a few nutrients are added back to it. This precious soil is our life-blood If you will. It is finally getting looked at with much more intensity as we realize the importance of the soil in our food web. Thanks for the permission to ramble, and wander. I promise next time to be more focused. Steve , 5th generation family farmer from Iowa, now in Texas.

As esteemed equine surgeon Bob Grisel of Atlanta states; “this field used to look more like a parking lot than a pasture” * please see his video on my website* thickerhorsepasture.net Well, why is the question. You and I, like Dr Grisel want our pastures and hay fields to look green and lush, unfortunately that is rarely the case. Did you know that NH3, or anhydrous ammonia, was first used in the Viet Nam war to turn “swampy” wet land into hard, smooth runways where our military could land heavy aircraft? Sound like science fiction right? Look it up if you don’t believe me. Now I am a believer in fertilizer and even some herbicides, in certain situations. However, many fertilizers cause serious damage to your most important resource on our farms; our soil! Stop treating your soil like dirt! It may take a few applications of fertilizer or many, many years, but all those products left in your soil will eventually take a toll on the soil’s life and therefore start a cascade of events that lead to a hard, dry, dead and unproductive platform that you will continue to ask and expect to provide plants to grow in. All soil needs a healthy balance of “good “ bacteria for that soil to provide an optimal environment for plants to grow in. Soil left to its own, usually contains a good balance of microbial life. Due to modern farming practices, overgrazing and weather extremes the bacteria in nearly every acre of land in the USA needs help! If you want to help you r fields be all they can be, and produce more, healthier plants from your fields and pastures check out our products at thickerhorsepasture.net