Cornell Soil Trailer Tour with Fay Benson

UConn Extension's Northeast SARE Project spent a day out in the field at Scantic Valley Farm in Somers learning about soil health and pasture management for beef cattle.

The program featured Cornell Cooperative Extension's Small Dairy Educator Fay Benson and the Cornell Soil Health Trailer demonstrating how healthy soils improve infiltration and prevent runoff. Another portion of the program included #soilyourundies, which was started by Canadian farmers. The practice requires burying cotton underwear in the ground as a test for microbial activity in the soil and then digging them up to observe how much of the cotton was consumed. Note the differences in the condition of each of the pairs of cotton underwear after just 7 weeks in the ground!