By: Nick Young
In Agricultural Science
“A nation that destroys its soils destroys itself.”- FDR
One of the most underappreciated geological creations is soil. People often confuse soil for dirt and dirt for soil. Soil is comprised of decayed rocks, minerals, and plants that form layers or horizons over an extended period of time. Soil is a living ecosystem where bacteria, fungi, arthropods, worms, and more live and thrive. Dirt, on the other hand, is made up of sand, silt, and clay. It has no living organisms, minerals, or nutrients found in it. I often get offended when people call soil dirt. Dirt implies that something is dispensable or insignificant to someone. I can assure anyone that without soil, humanity would seize to exist as we know it! My soils professor at Lincoln Land Community College always taught me to not treat soils like dirt and appreciate all that soil does for the world. My appreciation for what soil does for all of us is profound and resounding. I just wish that others shared my appreciation and concern for soils, too
Think about all of the foods that require soil to grow? Think about all of the animals that rely on us to feed them? This reliance first comes from the soil. Everything from fruits and vegetables to beef and pork require fertile soil to produce. Basically, no foods could be produced without a fertile environment to grow in. In this case, that environment is soil. I perceive soil as a foundation of a building. That building is all of humanity. If the foundation is precarious or weak, the entire building will fall. What I learned from my environmental science class at my community college is that everything is connected to each other in some way. Soil is related to the basic need that keeps humanity to perishing. That basic need is food. No one knows what the future will hold for anything. This is especially true when it comes to soils. I am very concerned that more and more soil will be gone in the future due to the growing population of the world and adverse environmental conditions. What I can predict, however, is that more attention and conservation practices will have to be implemented if soil is to be around as along as humanity is.
About the Author
Hi everyone! My name is Nick Young and I’m a junior at Western Illinois University majoring in ag science. Agriculture has always been a major part of my life. My mom’s side of the family are all farmers. They own 1000 acres in Greene County. Every now and again I will go down there and help them get the crop out of the field. The farm is almost 100 years old and is continuing to grow. I was fortunate enough to spend four years of my life working with the former Secretary of Agriculture for Illinois. His name is Tom Jennings. Tom encouraged me to switch my degree from law enforcement to agriculture. Since then, I haven’t looked back and I’m really glad I switched degrees. I am hoping to stay in Illinois and possibly work for the company Brandt. Brandt was actually founded in the town that I went to high school. I went to Pleasant Plains High School from 2014 to 2018.
Western Illinois University School of Agriculture 