Meet The Soil Whisperer Still Uncovering Secrets Of The Soil at World's Third Oldest Continuous Research Farm

Tim Reinbott stands at Sanborn Field in Columbia, Mo. and shows how manure applications can dramatically improve soil health.
Tim Reinbott stands at Sanborn Field in Columbia, Mo. and shows how manure applications can dramatically improve soil health.
(Russ Hnatusko )

Anyone who’s visited the University of Missouri or Columbia, Mo., has more than likely passed through the intersection of College Ave. and Rollins St. The bustling intersection doesn’t just serve as the eastern entry point to campus. College Ave. is a main transportation vein in the growing college town. It’s an intersection that has grown over what used to be University of Missouri farm fields. And today, black gates still sit on the northeast corner of that popular intersection, gates that serve as an entrance to agronomy of the past, present and future.

“This is a very unique treasure that we have,” says Tim Reinbott, director of Sanborn Field at the University of Missouri. “Sanborn Feld is a third-oldest continuous research center in the world. That's right, the world.”

Sanborn Field is rooted in deep history. Started in 1888, it’s a historic landmark that’s far from a history museum.

“The premise was that we need to teach farmers about crop rotation, fertilizers – these new things coming out. So, that's been going on ever since,” he adds.

Sanborn 1

Pursuing a Passion

Spend five minutes with Reinbott, and you’ll quickly realize just how passionate he is about the historic field. His wisdom and energy are contagious, as even scratching the surface of the history at Sanborn Field quickly provides perspective on just how much of a treasure it still is today.

“What's really neat about Sanborn Field is that we have some studies that have been going on since 1888,” Reinbott explains. “And some have been slightly tweaked along the way. But if we do tweak something, it's going to be for a reason.”

Thirty-nine treatments are scattered across the 7-acre field. And while the University of Missouri campus had grown and changed, Sanborn Field sits in the same spot, even as the value of the piece of property has grown.

sanburn aerial

“Nowhere else in the world can you have this many treatments,” says Reinbott. “Thirty-nine of them, all on the same soil type.”

The soil is Mexico silt loam, a soil that is almost trademarked in this part of the U.S. 

Searching for Soil Health 

Reinbott calls dirt a “four-letter word,” and one that will not be used while standing on the piece of history still known as Sanborn Field. Instead, he says it’s soil that’s not just celebrated, but what serves as the foundation for everything done here.

“Everything that we've done – from rotations to fertilizer – makes such a big difference with our soil health and our productivity,” he adds. T

The original soil still sits within Sanborn Fields, with one plot that’s been planted in continuous corn for 132 years.

“Continuous corn does not work very well,” says Reinbott, as he points to a plot that has sporadic corn stalks throughout the parcel of land. “But if you go back 40, 50 or 60 years, the changes were not near as dramatic. We've really seen this accelerate in the last 20 or 30 years.”

sunburn
The photo on the left shows Sanborn field before the University of Missouri campus expanded, with Jesse Hall in the background. The photo on the left shows the same angle from the field today.
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Secrets of the Soil

Reinbott says the biggest drain on soil health is a traditional corn and soybean rotation every year, which is a typical rotation in Missouri and throughout the Midwest.

“What we found out here at Sanborn is that when you put soybeans in the rotation, many of our soil-health parameters start falling out,” he says.

Researchers have found soybeans create a fragile biomass that breaks down in the soil quickly.

“So, it's not really building – like when we have wheat in the rotation. It doesn't matter if it's every year or every third or fourth year, the soil health differences are tremendous,” he says.

The Power of Wheat

While corn and soybeans can drain the soil of their nutrients, Reinbott says adding a dose of wheat can propel corn yields.

“When we just had that rotation with no other inputs, the corn is probably 10 times better, or it yields 10 times more,” he adds.

Second Key is a Cover Crop

And if wheat isn’t an option, the soil whisperer says the next best thing is a cover crop.

“After four years, you start seeing a very big, positive increase of soybeans – always about 7 bushels per acre,” he says. “That's been pretty consistent. And (after about) four years, we start seeing corn going up about 10 to 15 bushels. Now, the first few years are kind of rough. But once you start building that soil health, things start changing.”

Managing with Manure

In addition to wheat and cover crops, Reinbott says the third key to a healthier soil structure is manure.

“In these two plots, the one with the manure has excellent soil structure, whereas the non-manure one doesn't,” says Reinbott, standing in the side-by-side plots. “As a matter of fact, it was very difficult to even plow this fall because it has no structure.”

manure
A side-by-side comparison of a field with manure applied during the fall compared to a field without manure applications.

Knowing the Benefits of No-Till

And Reinbott says if you layer any of those with no-till, it’s a winning recipe for soil health.

“The organic matter is about one whole unit. So, from 2.6 to 3.6, and that gives us better water infiltration,” he adds.

om Kabrick, a senior at the University of Missouri this year, started working on Sanborn Field when he was in high school.

“I started helping here in 2016,” he says. “It was my first summer job.”

Year after year ever since, Kabrick has been down every row. 

“They're very pressed down because of how many times they've been worked over through the years. And it's pretty interesting to see that there's been no extra soil that's been brought in,” he adds.

Planting the Future

While preserving history is key, Reinbott and others are also working toward the future. Robots were even deployed here this summer to measure crop growth and stress.

“This summer, we added some more twists. In addition to the robots, we had weekly drone shots that we can measure that only growth every week, but also water stress and insect stress and other stresses, disease stress,” he says.

As technology takes this research to another level, it’s adding another layer to a field that’s already historic. 

“For example, did you know that the basis of our antibiotics came from here? Plot 23 right over here. That's where the soil sample was taken, that they isolated aureomycin from. That became our basis for tetracycline. So, it all started right here,” he says.

Smithsonian

A treasured find that is displayed and housed at the Smithsonian in Washington D.C., but a find that may not be the end of what Reinbott and others harvest here.

“A healthy soil will equal a healthy plant. That healthy plant will equal a healthy animal, whether it's a human or livestock,” he says.

As Reinbott and others at the University of Missouri continue to harvest the past, they are also planting the future. And it’s a commitment that Reinbott thinks will be around for another 132 years.

“As agriculture changes, we've got to answer those questions about how the soil has changed and how our plants are interacting with it,” says Reinbott.

 

 

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