Practical Ideas for Building Healthier Soils With John Burk

There is no substitute for experience. Michigan farmer John Burk has a masters degree in crop and soil science, spent 10 years as an ag and natural resources agent for Michigan State University, and has spent over two decades farming full time. Even though he’s been farming full time for over 20 years now, he still remains involved in a lot of cover crop work with the university as well as some conservation districts. His real world experience and knowledge are invaluable in our discussion about the future of soil health. 

“Get some green manure back in. You've gotta replenish them soils. You've gotta keep them soils healthy, and you need to keep them in one place so they're not all over the neighborhood. At the same time, I'm gonna tell somebody don't go out tomorrow and this fall and say, I'm gonna plant a thousand acres of rye. You're never gonna do it again. Do a hundred acres of rye. Figure out how you're gonna manage that hundred before you do a thousand.” - John Burk

John shares specifics about his planning strategies and things he has implemented or at least tried over the years. He brings a unique perspective as someone who not only grows corn and soybeans, but also sugar beets and dry edible beans. John says you need to “replenish your soil somehow and tillage isn't gonna do it all.” He recommends cover crops as a natural answer that will provide great benefits to soil health.

“If you really think about it…the more root mass you have in the soil, the harder it is for that soil to compact. Plus it gives more air pockets for the rain to flow through rather than pond on top or pack those soil aggregates together. So that's why I always like to have a bunch of different masses of roots or even the mass up top worked into the soil.” - John Burk

This Week on Soil Sense:

Meet Michigan farmer John Burk as he shares extremely practical and detailed information about finding a way to build healthier soils on the farm

John shares a lot of specifics about things he has implemented or tried over the years, including some really useful tools and strategies. 

Thank you to the Soy Checkoff for sponsoring this Farmers for Soil Health series of the Soil Sense podcast. This show is produced by Dr. Abbey Wick, Dr. Olivia Caillouet, and Tim Hammerich, with support from the United Soybean Board, the University of Missouri Center for Regenerative Agriculture and the Soil Health Institute.

If you are interested in what soil health looks like in practice and on the farm, please subscribe and follow this show on your favorite podcast app, and leave us a rating and review while you’re there. Check out the Farmers for Soil Health website at FarmersForSoilHealth.com.