Soil Conditioning and Ways to Conserve Water While Increasing Product Yield.

The Hidden Soil Problem Costing Farmers Thousands Every Year and Why Water Infiltration Matters More Than Ever

Over the last several decades, agriculture has changed dramatically. Farmers today are expected to produce more than ever before while facing rising input costs, unpredictable weather patterns, increasing land prices, and pressure to maintain yields year after year. In the process of chasing higher production, I sometimes wonder if we have quietly overlooked one of the most important parts of the entire equation — the soil itself.

Recently I came across a field that caused me to stop and think. On the surface it looked no different than thousands of other fields we drive past every day throughout farm country. The ground had been worked, the field was clean, and preparations were underway for another growing season. But as I stood there looking across that field, I found myself thinking less about what was visible above ground and more about what was happening below the surface where most of the important work in agriculture actually begins.

For years much of modern farming has relied heavily on increasingly aggressive chemical programs designed to maximize production and simplify weed and pest control. While these systems have undoubtedly increased productivity in many ways, I believe we need to begin asking harder questions about what long-term intensive farming practices may be doing to the biological health of the soil itself. In many parts of the country farmers are noticing ground that has become tighter, more compacted, increasingly difficult to manage, and far less forgiving during periods of drought or excessive moisture. Earthworms, microbial activity, organic matter, and healthy soil structure are often no longer what they once were.

Healthy soil was never intended to simply hold plants upright. Healthy soil is a living system. It is responsible for holding moisture, cycling nutrients, supporting microbial life, creating proper aeration, and allowing root systems to develop in ways that sustain healthy plant growth throughout the season. When these natural processes begin breaking down, farmers often compensate by adding additional fertilizer, increasing irrigation, adjusting chemical programs, and investing more money simply to maintain the same productivity that healthy ground once provided naturally.

One area of agricultural research that has increasingly caught my attention is the role water movement plays within the soil itself. We often focus on how much rain falls or how much irrigation is being applied, but far less attention is given to how effectively that water is actually penetrating the soil profile where roots can access it. Research has consistently shown that poor water infiltration leads to increased runoff, reduced nutrient availability, uneven moisture distribution, erosion, and ultimately lower crop efficiency. In fact, agricultural studies noted that water availability limits crop production more frequently than almost any other factor affecting farm productivity.

Several controlled agricultural studies examining soil conditioning and water infiltration produced some findings worth paying attention to. Researchers documented improvements in water penetration rates reaching as high as 300% across several soil types, significantly improving the movement of water into the root zone where plants rely on both moisture and nutrient uptake. What makes this particularly interesting is the corresponding effect on crop performance. Potato studies demonstrated yield increases of approximately 1,777 pounds per acre while corn production studies recorded increases approaching 29 percent under controlled field conditions.Perhaps more important than yield itself was what researchers observed happening beneath the soil surface. Larger and healthier root systems were consistently developing where water movement and nutrient availability had improved. When roots spend less time struggling to locate moisture and nutrients, plants naturally direct more energy toward growth and development rather than survival. For anyone who has spent years farming, this principle simply makes sense.

I believe agriculture is entering a period where farmers will increasingly need to think differently about soil health. The future may not simply depend on adding more fertilizer, applying stronger chemical programs, or investing in increasingly expensive inputs. Instead, it may require returning to some very basic questions about whether the soil itself is functioning the way healthy soil was designed to function in the first place.

The land has always told the truth. The question is whether we are listening closely enough to what it has been trying to tell us for the last several decades.

Agricultural Research Shows Water Penetration Improvements Up To 300% with Shaklee Basic H Classic Formula

One of the most interesting findings from historical agricultural field studies involved improvements in water infiltration.

Researchers studying soil conditioning applications found statistically significant improvements in water penetration rates of up to 300% across multiple soil types.

This matters because improved infiltration may help:

• Increase soil aeration

• Reduce evaporation loss

• Improve moisture retention

• Reduce runoff

• Improve nutrient availability to roots

• Support stronger plant development

The research concluded that improving water infiltration can directly impact crop performance and farm efficiency.

Product Yield Increase and a larger root system

In potato field studies, yields increased by 1,777 pounds per acre.

Corn studies showed yield increases of 29 percent.

In side-by-side field comparisons, corn root systems developed roughly 30 to 40 percent larger than untreated plants.

Remember— The use of Basic-H Concentrated Soil Conditioner, and the results you obtain, are dependent on many variables that change from farm to farm and crop to crop. These include the soil type, water quality (pH and inorganic salt content), climate, agricultural history of the soil (crop and tillage history, plow pan and hard pan formation, etc.), the amounts and types of previous fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides used, irrigation systems used and crop types and varieties.Only you can accurately determine how to farm your own fields effectively and efficiently.

How long Basic-H remains effective depends largely on the same factors and variables that deter-mine its initial effectiveness. A second application after two months is suggested. Adjust this as appropriate for your individual conditions.

Basic-H Concentrated Soil Conditioner is biodegradable and will not harm your land or crops when used as directed. At the recommended application rates with appropriate dilutions, Basic-H Concentrated Soil Conditioner will not adversely affect seed germination, root development, soil pH, nutrient status of soil or nutrient uptake from soil.

Shaklee Corporation makes no claims for Basic-H Concentrated Soil Conditioner as a nutrient release aid or fertilizer, or as a spray adjuvant, pesticide, herbicide, or rodenticide. However, research is continuing to determine the effects of Basic-H Concentrated Soil Conditioner on water infiltration and its secondary benefits.

The Shaklee Agricultural Research Program

Years of successful studies on the effects of Basic-H Concentrated Soil Conditioner on water infiltration, or penetration, have shown statistically significant increases up to 300%.

Improved water infiltration is more important on farms than you may think. It’s generally accepted that improving infiltration of water into soil can have many benefits, depending on field conditions and farming techniques, from reducing runoff anderosion to improving soil aeration and crop yields.

Now, as expected, the latest research is proving that Basic-H Concentrated Soil Conditioner can be an effective aid in producing some of these results.

Which means you can have even more confidence that Basic-H Concentrated Soil Conditioner will help you get more from every irrigation dollar.

And our continuing research support can mean real breakthroughs in the science of agronomy.

The results are already exciting for science, for Shaklee, and for your farm.

Basic-H Concentrated Soil Conditioner:

·       Helps increase the rate at which water penetrates soils

·       Makes water wetter, overcoming water repellency

·       Promotes maximum water utilization by reducing runoff and loss by evaporation

·       Assists drainage in areas where standing water might otherwise accumulate

·       Permits more uniform water penetration, thereby reducing dry spots

Shaklee Basic H 5 Gallon Pail: https://us.shaklee.com/en_US/growthteam/Green-Home/Commercial-Cleaning/Basic-H%C2%AE-Cleaner-/p/00042?categoryCode=Commercial%20Cleaning

Large Scale - 30 gallon drum: https://us.shaklee.com/en_US/growthteam/Green-Home/Commercial-Cleaning/Basic-H%C2%AE-Cleaner-/p/00051?categoryCode=

 Read the full Agricultural Usages and Studies here

Shaklee Basic H - Agricultural Research PDF.pdf

Download PDF • 2.39MB

References for irrigation and conservation information:

Ashworth, William, Water—The Forgotten Crisis, Summit Books, Simon & Schuster, New York, 1982.

Boykin, John, “Liquid Life: The Water Beneath Us,” Stanford Magazine, Spring 1982.

Davenport, D.C.; Hagan, R.M.; Vaux, Henry J.; Hatchett, Stephen; Incidental Effects of Agricultural Water Conservation, Report to California Dept. of Land, Air and Water Resources, University of California, Davis, June 1981.

Eason, Henry, “The Approaching Water Supply Crisis,” Nation’s Business, August 1983, pg. 22-25.

Engelbert, Ernest A. (ed.), Competition for California’s Water—Alternative Resolutions, University of California Press, Berkeley, California, 1982.

Finkel, Herman J., Handbook of Irrigation Technology, Vol. 1, CRC Press, Boca Raton, Florida, 1982.

“How much to irrigate?” Crops and Soils Magazine, April-May 1981, pg. 14-16.

Moldenhauer, W.C., et al., “Experimental Methods and Uses of Soil Conditioners,” Soil Science Society of America Proc.,SSSA Special Publication Series, No. 7, Madison, Wisconsin, 1975.

Special Report, “The Browning of America,” Newsweek, Feb. 23, 1981.

Tidd, Peter M., “The Challenges of Soil & Water Conservation: The USDA Perspective,” presented at the 1983Annual Meeting of the ASA-CSSA-SSSA, Washington, D.C., August 17, 1983.

 *These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. These products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.  Shaklee does not endorse Basic H for agricultural uses.  These uses are from university studies and Shaklee consumers.