Sustainable soil requires profitability.

No matter how desirable a sustainable program might be, it must be tempered by the realities of making a total commercial agriculture program work economically. Growers attempting to deal with this reality often focus on sustainability in a piecemeal manner, as they do not always understand the basic rules or guidelines that are required of a sustainable soil program. In this article, we will review the guidelines on achieving sustainability and also report on new developments in sustainable soil nutrition products.

Commercial agriculture programs are often unable to profitably approach sustainability due to economic pressures. Time-honored practices that require land to lay fallow and the use of cover crops along with manure or compost applications are expensive when compared to the rapid prepare-fertilize-plant harvest cycle that has come to dominate commercial practice. Sustainability struggles within such a marketplace, as growers rarely receive a premium for crops grown on sustainable soil versus crops grown conventionally. When a grower is faced with the hard choice of feeding his soil or feeding his family, the family will win.