How much would be too much? I suppose it depends what you are looking to produce from the soil.As a percentage can you have too much organic matter in a soil?
On a soil I'm sure you could because it could act as a smother and prevent ideal growth. But in a soil? Highly doubt you could have too much. OM is what makes up and feeds the soil, how can you have too much soil in soil?
Ah, but straw isn't the only kind of OMIf its not being broken down to produce N?
Surely it requires a certain amount of energy to break it down also.
When chopping straw arable farmers need to account for a certain amount of extra N to break it down?
Not really accurate, but useful nonetheless.How accurate are OM tests?
Never had one done.
Not really accurate, but useful nonetheless.
Perhaps the "deader" or less biologically active the soils are, the better the test shows what's there? Same could be said for most soil tests.
Google 'liquid carbon pathway' if you want to fill in a happy hour, plants themselves possibly are the biggest providers of SOM, which is why I doubt you can have too much "as a percentage" as per the OPs question - but you can easily put too much muck on, as per your statement
Yes, out of a teaspoonful of soil!Accurate in that you 'cook' off everything that isn't mineral to get the figure.
I keep thinking of your measured increase in carbon and organic matter when I read all these holistic grazing detractors. There's been a few links posted on here lately and others elsewhere. People claiming the Savory's and Salatin's of this world aren't actually doing as much good as they claim.We've been increasing OM for about 10 years and have grassland fields at 18% now.
I have been told the figure will plateau at some point (although no one can tell me when) The soil will still build carbon, but not as a %, but you will continue to build soil if that makes sense. We have entered into a load of extra testing as the results as measured (30m grids across a field and at 3 depths, sent to 2 labs and through 3 organisations) got results that are apparently impossible to achieve according to some, and has caused a lot of arguing between 2 factions of soil scientists.
Soil biology is quite good at metabolising chemicals, so I think some of the chemical guys recommend keeping OM low to improve the effectiveness of chemical control.
There is huge scientific disagreement about effective ways to measure soil health. There are many accepted specific soil tests but it seems none are robust enough to resist challenge. When it comes to soil those claiming scientific certainty are arrogant or lying.I keep thinking of your measured increase in carbon and organic matter when I read all these holistic grazing detractors. There's been a few links posted on here lately and others elsewhere. People claiming the Savory's and Salatin's of this world aren't actually doing as much good as they claim.
So very interested to hear the results of both your testing, and the subsequent scientists' debates!
There is huge scientific disagreement about effective ways to measure soil health. There are many accepted specific soil tests but it seems none are robust enough to resist challenge. When it comes to soil those claiming scientific certainty are arrogant or lying.