Healthy, fungi-rich soil is one of the most valuable yet overlooked assets for farm profitability. By reducing tillage and synthetic inputs, you can harness beneficial fungi to improve nutrient cycling, boost soil health, and increase crop yields at little to no cost.
What does it cost to have a profitable crop? Do you till and buy synthetic fertilizers, herbicides, and fungicides? What if we told you there was a more effective and less expensive way to farm? Would you be interested?
Of course you want to make a profit on your farm. Tilling and adding synthetic fertilizers, pesticides, and fungicides all cost you money. So why not work with nature for free and increase your farm profits?
Fungi: The Foundation of Healthy Soil
Fungi are found in the top few feet of soil. Their white strands (called hyphae) can travel for miles, searching for plants that will give them the nutrition they need.
Plant roots give off exudates that fungi need to live. In exchange, the fungi give the plants nutrients and water, in a symbiotic relationship. Beneficial fungi in the soil can acquire the necessary nutrients for the plants from afar. Some types of fungi send out hyphae from inside plant roots into the soil, where they forage for scarce nutrients that are necessary for healthy plant growth.
Fungi connect plants below ground by a hyphal network that moves resources among coexisting plants. When the soil has a balance of bacteria, fungi, and other organisms, it is healthy. A healthy beneficial microorganism community can out-compete pathogenic organisms for nutrients and space around plant roots. The symbiotic relationship between fungi and plants plays a key role in nutrient cycling, pathogen protection, and decomposition of organic matter.
Building Fungal-Rich Soil
The soil food web is complex. It’s made up of many characters; fungi, bacteria, nematodes, protozoa, and many more microscopic organisms. These organisms are so small that they need help in breaking down organic matter.
Imagine a leaf falls. If we leave it, eventually it will decompose. Fungi will do its work. But the whole process will happen much faster if the fungi have a little help from something that can rip the leaf apart, leaving lots of raw edges for the fungi to start working on.
It turns out springtails, mites, spiders, millipedes, termites, centipedes, ants, and even beetles are beneficial for the creation of rich soil. The diversity of the macrofauna layer in the soil food web is a strong indicator of the health of the soil. So, next time you see a common pill bug, remember it’s there for a reason.
Macrofauna can survive in harsh conditions other microorganisms can’t, and they can ready that environment for fungi. Pill bugs are crustaceans, not insects. They turn heavy metal ions into non-contaminating crystalline structures, recycle decaying organic matter, and are more effective at creating soil than earthworms are.
If you’ve been farming the traditional way by tilling and adding synthetics, you likely have a farm that is losing topsoil and becoming more degraded every year. You have less insect life on your farm. Most insects are beneficial, so reconsider your use of traditional fertilizers and chemicals. Instead, feed the soil food web that helps your plants thrive.
BIOACTIVE LiquiLife+ and Supercharger biological products offer our clients an alternative to the traditional products that lead to fungal-poor soil. Adding biologicals to your foliar or furrow fertilization increases nutrient uptake, decreases leaching, and increases the nutrient profile of your crop. When your crops are healthy, they are less susceptible to disease.
Beneficial Fungi for a Profitable Crop
The majority of plants need fungi, and almost all fungi need plants. Fungi cannot live in soil that has been heavily tilled. Deep tilling destroys the hyphae. They also cannot live where synthetic fungicides are sprayed. Even a foliar spray with fungicide eventually makes it into the soil. You may have killed the harmful fungus on your crop leaves, but you also killed the helpful fungi in the soil that are an ally in your field health.
Why pay good money when you can get something for free? Fungi are found everywhere. The only place they are not abundant is on traditionally farmed agricultural acreage. When you deep till a field, you destroy the fungi and all the other microorganisms that feed your plants. If you’re using tilling and synthetics, you are losing out on a free resource that can give you higher, more nutrient-dense yields.
Fungi are the foundation of healthy soil, and healthy soil is the backbone of a profitable crop. Get in touch with us today to learn more about how regenerative ag practices can increase beneficial fungi in your soil. We’re here to help you succeed. When soil speaks, we listen.
Fungi and Farm Profitability FAQs
Why are fungi important for soil health?
Fungi form symbiotic relationships with plants, helping them absorb water and nutrients while protecting them from pathogens and improving soil structure.
How do tillage and synthetic chemicals harm beneficial fungi?
Deep tillage destroys fungal networks (hyphae), and synthetic fungicides kill both harmful and beneficial fungi, reducing soil biodiversity and fertility.
Can fungi really replace fertilizers and pesticides?
While not a direct replacement, beneficial fungi make nutrients more available to plants and naturally suppress disease, reducing the need for costly chemical inputs.
How can farmers encourage beneficial fungi in their soil?
Farmers can promote fungal growth by minimizing tillage, reducing synthetic inputs, adding organic matter, and adopting regenerative agricultural practices.
