In a recent national editorial, regenerative farmer Mollie Englehart stated, “As we witness the degradation of our soils through industrial farming practices—characterized by excessive tillage, the overuse of pesticides, and monocropping—we must consider what is truly at stake. Losing healthy soils goes beyond the loss of farmland microbiology and nutrient-dense food; it signifies a disconnection from creation itself.”

If “industrial farming practices” are depleting the soil as she contends in the way she asserts, this depletion would have happened decades ago. But, first, let’s examine soil health in its varied environments.

Ms. Englehart statement on soil health offers a strong bias and no recognition of regional soil differences. It’s also a strong statement to say one is disconnected from creation if someone does not apply the regenerative farm philosophy. Most in agriculture will tell you regenerative agriculture is a philosophy and not an explicit set of practices, unlike, for example, USDA Certified Organic farming that holds to a specific set of practices that are subject to a nationally recognized certification process to claim, “USDA Certified Organic.”

Regenerative agriculture is a rebirth of agricultural practices that have roots in the 19th century in many respects. Says soil expert and University of Arizona Professor Jeffrey Silvertooth, Ph.D., “The agronomic basics and fundamental land stewardship principles that I was taught and exposed to as an agronomy student at Kansas State University in the early 1970s are the same as advocated now as something new in regenerative agriculture. Our grandfathers and great-grandparents would recognize it.”

Regenerative farming is beneficial in terms of reducing tillage and enhancing organic material input into soils, i.e. crop residues, animal manures, and more. However, it’s not true to say that conventional, “industrial,” farming is a degrading process. Having grown up on a generational family farm that applied conventional farm practices, I know this to be true from my work on our family farm in Arizona.

Healthy soil exists under conventional farming conditions; the management of soils is simply a bit different. Well-managed soils under conventional conditions on large farms become evident by the rapid cycling of nutrients and organic materials that we commonly observe in the field. The irrigated lands of the southwest desert are a good example.

In desert (arid) soils, where our family farmed, it’s tougher to maintain high soil microbial populations in arid climates compared to temperate ones when farming. In arid regions, you’re dealing with low water availability, high temperatures, and often modest organic matter since high temperatures with low moisture prevent organic matter from naturally composting — all of which can stress microbial communities. Soil microbes, like bacteria, fungi, and actinomycetes, thrive on moisture and organic carbon. In deserts or drylands, water scarcity limits their activity and reproduction, while the heat can push them beyond their tolerance, slowing decomposition and nutrient cycling. Temperate climates, with more consistent rainfall and moderate temperatures, naturally support richer microbial life by keeping soils moist and providing a steady supply of plant residues. Even backyard gardeners know that for organic matter to break down, dark moist environments are required.

Farmers in the southwest have become more creative in maintaining opportunities for microbial communities in soils to thrive. But their approach must be different, especially if a larger scale farm.

“The contrast between regenerative and conventional farming practices on soil health will be the shift in soil microbial populations with greater diversification under regenerative conditions,” says Dr. Silvertooth. “It is important to put soil environment in scale. One gram of agricultural soil will contain approximately one billion bacterial organisms and among those billion bacterial cells there will commonly be approximately 10,000 different species.  Collectively, these organisms along with approximately one billion actinomycete organisms and one million viral organisms in one gram of soil form a soil ecosystem – the soil microbiome.”

Dr. Silvertooth further explains that the soil microbiome composition will vary among soils, locations, farming practices, and climatic conditions, but that a soil ecosystem exists regardless of farming method, while some practices will build a more diverse soil ecosystem than others. All of which are good. Even the same farm can have significant variations in soil conditions from field to field, square inch to square inch. It’s another reason testing soil regardless of farming method is a valuable tool in ensuring healthy soils.  

A Legacy of Celebrating Healthy Soil

I recall as a young person, one of Dad’s most common tools was his metal soil probe he kept in the back of his truck. He’d regularly grab it to check soil moisture. He often would ball up the moist soil, bring it to his nostrils, and breathe in. Young and inexperienced, I asked him, “Dad, why are you always smelling the dirt?” He quickly corrected me, “It’s soil.” He went on to explain why healthy soil was so important to farming. After that, I’d sometimes find myself repeating Dad’s actions when checking our desert soil’s moisture. That began my first instruction in the value of our soil and its health; a philosophy in practice among farm families. Today, soil probes planted in the soil send signals directly to a farmer’s smartphone.

And while the southwest desert is challenged to maintain the organic load in a soil ecosystem due to the 300-plus days of sunshine in Arizona that can deplete organic matter at a remarkable rate, I daily learn from our southwest farmers regarding their management of healthy soils.

Industrial farming's alleged soil degradation contradicts the reality of multi-generational farm families I know working the same soil generations ago, who sustain fertile land in an unforgiving desert landscape for future generations. When carefully and thoroughly observing today’s generational family farms, one’s rational and logical conclusions must challenge Englehart’s statements. I celebrate her family’s farm, but I also celebrate my family’s farm and the way we maintained our soil.

In Arizona and America, most farms today are family-owned. In Arizona, 95% of the farms and ranches in operation today are family-owned, and nearly all of them are at a minimum second and third-generation farms.