Soil Health Labs
by Soil Health Labs
The Soil Health Labs are located in the Environmental Health Sciences Department in the School of Public Health at the University of South Carolina. That may be surprising to most, especially since the University of South Carolina has no Ag School! Our mission is to promote soil health, not only as something that’s good for the farmer and the environment, but we also want to highlight soil health as a public health tool. Think about it. Healthy soils and healthy crops, mean healthy farmers and consumers, never mind an ever-improving environment. One idea we are embracing is that of Regenerative Farming where we embrace the idea that if farmers change the way they manage the soils, they can actually improve, or regenerate environmental conditions through less disturbance, keeping soils covered with residue or canopies, keeping live roots I the soil year round and be reintroducing animals into the whole system. While we cut our teeth promoting soil health through video and social media (
Episodes
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Top Drought Strategies That Help Farms and Ranches Recover Faster
This is a short-form episode pulled from a larger discussion with South Dakota NRCS specialists on the realities of managing through dry conditions across the Great Plains. Across South Dakota, producers are watching an uneasy growing season unfold. Crops are emerging slowly. Cool-season grasses...
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The Drought Playbook for Resilient Farms and Ranches
Drought doesn’t begin when the grass turns brown. It begins much earlier—when producers continue operating as though rain is guaranteed. In this short-form episode, three experienced South Dakota Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) representatives—Tanse Herrmann, Marcia Deneke, and Emily...
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Soil Salinity Solutions: What Farmers Can Do Right Now
Salinity doesn’t show up overnight—and it doesn’t go away with a quick fix. In this two-part series, Shane Jordan helps us connect the dots between what’s happening this year and what it will take to respond effectively. Episode 1 explores why conditions are aligning for salinity to expand—wet...
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Soil Salinity: The Biggest Problem Growing in Your Fields
Salinity hasn’t gone away—and in some parts of South Dakota, it may be setting up for a comeback. In this short, focused episode, Buz Kloot sits down with conservationist Shane Jordan to unpack why conditions are aligning for salinity to re-emerge as a serious issue this year. What looks like a…
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Agroecologist: Why Crop Rotations Outperform Both Tillage and No-Till in Long-Term Studies
This is a short-form episode featuring Natalie Sturm, pulled from our recent interview and focused on one of the most important—and often overlooked—drivers of soil health: crop rotations. We’re launching these short-form episodes to better serve our audience. Instead of listening to a full 60–90...
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Rethinking No-Till: Why Rotations, Residue, and Diversity Matter More Than We Thought
Guest: Natalie Sturm Hosts: Dr. Buz Kloot and Dr. Gabe Kenne Running time: 62 mins “We could take a shovel, and shovel up some soil in one field, and then just go across the dirt road, and the soils would look completely different... it kind of blew my mind that the only difference between those...
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A Path for Grassland Restoration that Benefits Producers, Land and Wildlife
Featuring: Liz Kierl, Executive Director, Second Century Habitat Fund Buz Kloot, Soil Health Lab, University of South Carolina Joe Dickie, Videographer and Conservation Storyteller, Soil Health Lab 📝 Episode Summary In this episode, we sit down with Liz Kierl, Executive Director of the Second...
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The Future of Agriculture: The Next Generation’s Roadmap for Regenerative Ranching
In this episode, Joe Dickie and Buz Kloot sit down with Karlie Kammerer, a rising senior from western South Dakota whose wisdom and clarity around regenerative ranching belies her age. Karlie grew up on a cow-calf operation near Rapid City where her family, including parents Riley and Jimmie and...
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How Ranchers are Reviving Native Grasslands and Creating More Resilient Operations
🧲 Quotable Quotes “When people don't understand much about the prairie, it just kind of looks like this monolith… just one FLAT thing. But really, it's like an old growth forest — full of life.” - Kate Rasmussen “Once you learn about it, your brain can look for it — and it completely changes how...
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Bridging Conservation and Profitability on the Prairie: What Every Rancher Should Know
In this episode, we sit down with Dawn Butzer to discuss her journey from her early life and career to her current work and future aspirations. Dawn shares insights into her deep connection with conservation and land management, emphasizing partnerships with the NRCS, South Dakota Grassland...
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New Research Reveals Why Fertilizer Efficiency Depends on More Than Nitrogen Rates and Soil Chemistry
In Part 2 of our series with Dr. Bhupinder Farmaha, we go deeper—literally. Dr. Farmaha joins us again to talk about what’s happening below the topsoil and why it matters more than ever in nutrient decision-making. From soil testing at deeper depths to assessing the biological activity of soil...
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How to Cut Fertilizer Inputs Without Sacrificing Yield: Soil Fertility Specialist Shares New Soil Health Data
In Part 1 of our two-part conversation with Dr. Bhupinder Farmaha, we dig into the reality of shifting farmer mindsets around nutrient management. As Clemson Extension’s Soil Fertility Specialist, Bhupinder walks us through his journey from studying soil science at the University of Illinois to...
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Seasoned Rancher Shares Simple Livestock Strategies For Healing the Land and Boosting Ranch Profitability
🧲 Quotable Quotes “You can’t graze a landscape unless you understand what that landscape wants to be.” — Dave Ollila “We’ve got a chance to tell a story—to show that red meat can come from stewardship, not just consumption.” — Dave Ollila “The biology in the rumen is the same biology in the…
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How to Boost Animal Health and Farm Productivity with Ecological Principles
Guest: Dr. Gustavo Lascano, Associate Professor of Ruminant Nutrition, Clemson University Host: Drs. Gabe Kenne & Buz Kloot Length: ~70 minutes In this conversation with Dr. Gustavo Lascano, Ruminant Nutrition Specialist at Clemson University, we discuss integrating ecological principles like...
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How Real-World Farmers are Boosting Profits: Cover Crops, Cost Cutting, & Yield Bumps
In this episode, Carl Coleman continues his deep dive into the lessons learned from years of soil health experimentation—and how they changed not only his farm but his entire career. Carl shares how the pushback he received from scientists and extension professionals led him to set up a…
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The Economic Impact of Regenerative Agriculture: Practical Wisdom from a Seasoned Farmer
In this episode, Carl Coleman continues his deep dive into the lessons learned from years of soil health experimentation—and how they changed not only his farm but his entire career. Carl shares how the pushback he received from scientists and extension professionals led him to set up a…
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South Dakota Rancher Shares Alternative Strategy for Managing Invasive Species & Boosting Land Health
In this episode, Buz and Dickie chat with Clinton Rasmussen about the innovative use of goats for land management, particularly in combating the spread of eastern red cedar in South Dakota. Clinton shares his journey from growing up on a ranch to returning after his military service and…
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Rangeland Specialist's Top Grazing Strategies to Drought-Proof Your Pasture
In this episode, we chat with Lealand Schoon from the South Dakota NRCS about drought management, grazing strategies, and the long-term health of pasturelands. Lealand covers how subtle factors like trigger dates and residue levels impact grazing decisions, stressing that if land is left with…
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Reimagining Agriculture: Dr. Fred Provenza on Rethinking Our Relationship with Nature and the Land
Our third and final interview with Fred Provenza unfolds like a symphony in four parts, each movement resonating with deep reflections on human connection, nature, and the inner workings of the mind. With a cadence that mirrors the unfolding of a well-composed piece, Fred takes us through a…
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Ecologist Fred Provenza's Top Tips for Unlocking Livestock and Land Potential
In this second podcast with Dr. Fred Provenza, professor emeritus of Behavioral Ecology at Utah State University, and author of several important books on animal behavior and land stewardship, we discuss key themes include wildlife nutrition, ecological practices, and the interconnectedness of...
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How Collaboration is Helping Farmers Solve Their Toughest Soil Challenges
This episode of the Soil Health Labs podcast delves into the importance of peer learning among farmers, innovative approaches to soil health, and the implementation of climate-smart practices through the Climate-Smart Grown in SC Program out of Clemson and SC State Universities. Featuring…
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How to Reverse Soil Salinity with Regenerative Land Management
As we end the growing season, we want to air this podcast that Joe Dickie and Buz Kloot conducted with NRCS’s Shane Jordan and Kent Vlieger. This is the fourth podcast of the year that discusses salinity, the others being with Kent Cooley (Soil Scientist), Matt Hubers (Agronomist with Ducks...
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72 SC Farmer Shares Top Regenerative Practices for Transforming a 1.5 Acre Lot into a Thriving Family Farm
In a recent interview with Dr. Gabe Kenne, Lance Samuel spoke about his family’s farm, ‘Bushels & Bags’ near Ridgeway, South Carolina. Co-founded with his wife, Kim, initially the two former personal trainers only intended to start a homestead. Their journey began with a provisional vegetable…
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71 Tap into the Hidden Wisdom of Livestock to Restore Your Land with Renowned Ecologist Fred Provenza
In this episode of the SoilHealthLabs podcast series, Buz Kloot and Joe Dickie chat with Dr. Fred Provenza, professor emeritus of Behavioral Ecology at Utah State University, and author of several important books on animal behavior and land stewardship. Our discussion delves into the profound...
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70 Dr. Dwayne Beck Shares No-Nonsense Tips for Boosting Land Health, Profitability and Resilience
In this conversation with Soil Scientist Buz Kloot, Dwayne Beck— former research manager to Dakota Lakes Research Farm— discusses the destructive effects of some traditional land management techniques, one of which being tillage. Tillage consistently disrupts soil pore structure and leads to the...
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69 Soil Health Innovation: How One First-Gen Farmer Is Rewriting the Soil Health Script for a New Generation
In this week’s SoilHealthLabs podcast, Gabe and Buz have a chat with Russell Hedrick, a first-generation farmer who began his agricultural journey in 2012 with a focus on no-till farming to minimize equipment costs. Introduced to cover crops by NRCS's Lee Holcomb, he faced skepticism from older...
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68 Music with a Mission: Award-Winning Musicians Stand Up for Dakota Grasslands and Their Communities
In a lively interview with Buz Kloot, Joe Dickie and Lynn Betts, Maygen and Noah of the band Maygen & the Birdwatcher delve into the origins and evolution of their musical journey and their collaboration with the South Dakota Grasslands Coalition. The discussion began with Maygen recounting her...
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67 Master Gardener Greg Brown’s Top Tips for Building a Successful Farming Operation On As Little As One Acre
In this podcast episode, we chat with Greg Brown, a market gardener at Greenleaf Farms in Columbia, South Carolina. Greg's farm spans about an acre, where he grows a variety of flowers and produce organically, despite not being certified organic. He sells his products at a local farmer's market…
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66 Soil Health Goes South: Soil Molecular Biologist Brings New Life to Soil Health in South Carolina
In this first-of-its-kind episode on the Soil Health Labs podcast, we share big news on our expansion into South Carolina. Join us as we introduce Dr. Gabe Kenne, a molecular biologist turned soil health advocate, who will be leading our efforts in the Southeast. This episode sets the stage for...
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65 SD Rancher's Tips for Bridging Traditional Ranching Culture and The Best of Modern Agriculture
In this episode, South Dakota rancher Dan Rasmussen discusses the evolution in practice and mindset needed to sustain ranching in South Dakota. Rasmussen emphasizes the importance of maintaining certain traditional elements of cowboy culture, like community cooperation, while adapting modern,...
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64 Dr. Dwayne Beck Shares His Top Holistic Management Tools to Transform Your Operation
Dwayne Beck is the former Research Manager at Dakota Lakes Research Farm in Pierre, South Dakota. Soil Health Labs researcher Buz Kloot spoke with him in 2013 and again in 2023 about his journey at Dakota Lakes. When Dakota Lakes Research Farm was first established by local farmers in the early...
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63 Crop Consultant Shares How to Earn 400 More Dollars an Acre on Saline Soils
In this interview segment between Buz Kloot and Joe Dickie of Lee Briese, Lee Briese discusses his background as an independent crop consultant in East Central North Dakota, specializing in managing salinity issues. He explains how salinity affects crop yields due to osmotic pressure, which makes...
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62 Future-Focused Farming: Exploring the Intersection of Science & Soil with Dr. Dwayne Beck
We’re excited for the second podcast in this series that we call “Atlas Brainstorming with Dr. Dwayne Beck”. The original interviews we conducted were in 2013 at Dakota Lakes Research Farm (DLRF) and then Buz Kloot followed up with Dr. Beck in 2024 to see what had happened in the interim. In this...
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61 Agronomist Shares Top Strategies to Transform Saline Soils Into Productive Land
The conversation begins with Matt sharing a bit about his background, growing up on military bases in Germany and having ties to agriculture through his family's farming history. He then talks about his education and work experience in fisheries, water quality, and conservation, leading up to his...
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60 Soil Health Pioneer Dr. Dwayne Beck Shares His Groundbreaking Regenerative Ag Story
Dwayne Beck is the Research Manager at Dakota Lakes Research Farm in Pierre, South Dakota. Soil Health Labs researcher Buz Kloot spoke with him in 2013 and again in 2023 about his journey at Dakota Lakes. When Dakota Lakes Research Farm was first established by local farmers in the early 1980s…
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59 Soil Expert on the Origins and Impacts of Saline Soils
In this, our first series on salinity, we talk to Kent Cooley, area resource scientist in Rapid City, SD. We discuss some of the causes of salinity in South Dakota, where it's estimated that 7.5 million acres of land are affected by saline soils, with almost a million more acres added in the past...
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58 How One Grassland Initiative is Leveraging Landowners and Scientists to Ignite Profound Real-World Change
Laura Kahler is the director of the South Dakota Grasslands Initiative (SDGI), pushing South Dakotan agriculture toward sustainability and heightened reverence for the natural landscape. Laura's mission is to provide resources and support to landowners, helping them keep their pasture lands not...
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57 Preserving America's Grasslands: Insights from Tate Lantz on The Central Grasslands Roadmap
In this insightful episode, Tate Lantz joins hosts Joe Dickie and Buz Kloot to discuss the Central Grasslands Roadmap. Lantz shares his personal journey from a childhood on a South Dakota cattle ranch to his current role in conservation, reflecting a deep connection to the grasslands. Tate grew…
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56 How Dr. Liz and Rick Haney are Reshaping Soil Tests and the Agricultural World by Following Nature's Blueprint
Most folks have heard of the Haney test, but who are the people behind the test, what is the test and how did it all get started? In this episode, Buz Kloot and Joe Dickie talk to Drs. Liz and Rick Haney both soil scientists who live in Texas. Rick and Liz met during their graduate studies at…
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55 Gabe Brown Shares How Regenerative Agriculture is Breathing New Life into Farms, Soils and Society
In this podcast, Buz Kloot, Joe Dickie, and Gabe Brown discuss Gabe's motivation behind his mission to help farmers and ranchers. Gabe shares that his dedication to the mission was solidified during the three years of extreme difficulties he faced. At that time, there were few resources for…
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54 How to Structure a Win-Win Grazing Lease for Land and Livestock Owners
We were delighted to get back with Pete Bauman who is a Natural Resources and Wildlife Field Specialist for SDSU Extension. Pete specializes in range, pasture, and grassland management with an emphasis on educating producers about how profitability and ecological balance are complimentary. Pete’s...
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53 Regenerative Farmers Share Most Important Practice for Soil Health Success
Barry and Eli Little are a father and son team farming near Castlewood, SD located in the eastern part of South Dakota. Together they have close to 1600 acres of crop land, and farm this along with another 1300 acres of Barry’s brother’s land. Though cropland is still the centerpiece of their...
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52 How Father/Son Team is Cutting Input Costs and Increasing Yields
Barry and Eli Little are a father and son team farming near Castlewood, SD located in the eastern part of South Dakota. Together, they have close to 1600 acres of cropland, and farm this along with another 1300 acres of Barry’s brother’s land. While cropland is still the centerpiece of their...
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51 National Erosion Specialist Shares Mind-Blowing Truth about Soil Loss
We sat down to chat with Chris Coreil, now the National Erosion Specialist based at the NRCS’s Central National Technology Support Center in Fort Worth, TX. Chris is originally from Louisiana where he was state agronomist for ten years before going to Fort Worth. On May 12, 2022, a derecho wind…
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50 The Cost of Tillage and Bare Soil in Extreme Conditions
In this podcast, Buz Kloot talks to Dan Mehlhaf, District Conservationist for the USDA NRCS, currently stationed at Yankton, South Dakota. Dan was raised on a farm and has a degree in agriculture from South Dakota State University and he actively farms with his son on land they own in Hutchinson...
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49 Adaptive Grazing Masterclass with Allen Williams
As part of our adaptive grazing management series (if you haven’t listened to the podcasts with Justin Thompson and Candice Mizera, we highly recommend the listen, especially if you are in South Dakota and want to understand more about cool season invasive grasses) Joe Dickie and Buz Kloot sat…
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48 Rancher Puts Cool Season Invasives in the Rearview with Adaptive Grazing
If you have not yet listened to the previous podcast with Justin Thompson we strongly recommend you do before listening to this one. The first release of this podcast was set to coincide with the spring thaw and the green-up of cool season grasses and forbs. One of the biggest threats to South...
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47 SD Rancher's Unique Approach to Manage Cool Season Invasives
The first release of this podcast was set to coincide with the spring thaw and the green-up of cool season grasses and forbs. One of the biggest threats to South Dakota rangeland is the increasing prevalence of three cool season invasive species, namely smooth brome, Kentucky bluegrass and…
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46 Enhance Ranchland Profitability by Feeding Soil Microbes
“If you break out the fungal hyphae and you disturb microbiomes, they won't be able to develop, establish, and flourish from that point on.…we realized how important it is to have the fungal community in the system.” David Johnson is a molecular biologist and research scientist in Las Cruces NM,...
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45 SDSU’s Bauman Talks Rangeland Evolution, Tools and Future Success
“You look at soil health… the tenets don't change, right, the tenets of those five things, will remain truthful, now, [and] in 10 years from now, I would hope, right? And that's kind of how I try to approach my outreach.” We were delighted to get together with Pete Bauman who is a Natural…
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About this show
The Soil Health Labs are located in the Environmental Health Sciences Department in the School of Public Health at the University of South Carolina. That may be surprising to most, especially since the University of South Carolina has no Ag School! Our mission is to promote soil health, not only as something that’s good for the farmer and the environment, but we also want to highlight soil health as a public health tool. Think about it. Healthy soils and healthy crops, mean healthy farmers and consumers, never mind an ever-improving environment. One idea we are embracing is that of Regenerative Farming where we embrace the idea that if farmers change the way they manage the soils, they can actually improve, or regenerate environmental conditions through less disturbance, keeping soils covered with residue or canopies, keeping live roots I the soil year round and be reintroducing animals into the whole system. While we cut our teeth promoting soil health through video and social media (
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Soil Health Labs