SFI currently is researching the effects of different soil management strategies with a goal of improving crop dynamics and soil health. Others favor bacteria, and can be useful for row crop farmers. Carl Gwilliam of Tulare Ag Products finds the services of SFI are useful in his work with growers of tree and vine crops. We moved to composts made with yard trimmings and cardboard feedstocks, as the high carbon content favors fungal growth. Gwilliam also has used SFI services as a predictive tool to evaluate suitability of soils for various crops.
Spots surrounding it are mostly bacteria and clay colloids.
Darker specks are organic matter. The hypha retains nitrogen and must be eaten by a fungal feeding predator for the nitrogen to be available to plants Tulare Ag Products also uses the analyses to determine how to adjust the soil food web, including evaluating the effect of a variety of biostimulants, such as minerally diverse substances like leonardite composted with algae cultures and other micronutrients. Increasing the complexity of the soil food web is a key to improving its dynamics. Biostimulants are blended into compost windrows or sprayed onto the soil before compost is incorporated. The materials contain few live organisms, but they supply the nutrients, organic and amino acids, enzymes and coenzymes that can jump start production of microorganisms.