OCTOBER 5, 2017 // 23
BOOK SHELF // GLIMPSE // WILDLIFE // POP CULTURE // WORDS // Q&A // FOOD // FUN
BOOKMONGER
Grounds for success:
a revolution in dirt
With quarrelsome
domestic politics, interna-
tional saber-rattling, natural
calamities and humanitarian
disasters, there’s plenty
of doom and gloom to go
around these days — but
then along comes David R.
Montgomery, bless him,
with news of a hopeful sort.
Montgomery is a
University of Washington
geomorphology professor
and recipient of a 2008
MacArthur Fellowship,
popularly known as the
“genius grant.” Fortunately
for us, some of Montgom-
ery’s genius lies in his
ability to make the stuff
of his studies — rocks and
dirt — compelling to the
average Joe.
A book he wrote a
decade ago, “Dirt: The
Erosion of Civilizations,”
revealed how conventional
agricultural practices were
devastating cropland around
the world. It was a transfi x-
ing and deeply dismaying
read.
But since then, Mont-
gomery has been seeking
solutions to this problem
of soil depletion. He found
some of them in his wife’s
home garden, and with her
he co-wrote the book “The
Hidden Half of Nature” to
reveal their discoveries.
Now with his latest
book, “Growing a Rev-
olution,” he’s moved his
focus from backyard to
farm — in fact, to farms all
over the world — to report
on common-sense practices
that farmers are adopting to
rebuild soil and ensure the
continuing productivity of
their farms.
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MACFOUND.ORG
“Growing a Revolution”
By David R. Montgomery
Norton
320 pp
$26.95
In early chapters, Mont-
gomery begins to dispel
some long-held misconcep-
tions about conventional
agriculture: Large farms
are not more effi cient than
small farms, chemical
fertilizers aren’t essential to
boosting crop production,
and industrialized food pro-
duction is perhaps not the
KJZZ.ORG
future of agriculture.
Montgomery visits
farmers who have ditched
conventional farming meth-
ods, but whose crop yields
are better than ever. They
may work on different-sized
farming operations, in
different soils, in different
climates, and with differ-
ent crops, but they have
adopted some of the same
practices.
First, they have switched
to no-till agriculture,
relinquishing the plow for
David R. Montgomery
less-intrusive methods of
replanting. In addition, they
plant cover crops to hold
the soil, reduce invasive
weeds and allow continued
percolation.
They also increase the
diversity of crops they
grow. This eliminates the
risk of mono-crop failure,
and also allows plants to
work their synergetic magic
underground in a myriad of
natural biological process-
es. These practices make
for happy earthworms and
microorganisms, whose ac-
tivity allows plants to make
use of the air and moisture
brought into the soil.
As one farmer put it,
“It’s not that I don’t have
any livestock, it’s that mine
are microscopic.”
Montgomery points
out that these regenerative
practices lead to “organ-
ic-ish,” if not entirely
organic farming. And as for
the bottom line: Crop yields
go up signifi cantly while
input costs (for fertilizers,
herbicides and fuel for farm
equipment) go down. It’s
clearly a win-win.
So what’s keeping all
farmers from embracing
these practices? Old ways
die hard, particularly when
well-heeled agribusinesses
that profi t from the status
quo prop up government
policies and ag schools
that promote conventional
farming.
Let’s make sure common
sense has its day. Read this
book, spread the word, and
help bring soil back to life!
The Bookmonger is Bar-
bara Lloyd McMichael, who
writes this weekly column
focusing on the books, au-
thors and publishers of the
Pacifi c Northwest. Contact
her at bkmonger@nwlink.
com.
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