Ray Weil and a Student collecting Soil Nitrate Samples down the Soil Profile Introduction: Beyond Erosion — The Scavenging Power of Cover...

It was the kind of late-summer afternoon when the land itself feels like it’s holding its breath. Ray Archuleta had come in from his home in Missouri to speak at the SC Forage and Grazing Lands Coalition, but before he ever set foot in a lecture hall, we wanted him out on the land, where his words always seem to take root. We brought him to Jason Carter’s farm — a familiar place for us, a living classroom. On one side of a dirt track: Jason’s ground, managed with no-till, lon

Iconic Ray Archuleta Image captured ca. 2013 before a Slake Test Demonstration. Introduction In 2010, I met Ray Archuleta on the farm of the late Ray Steyer. That day changed the course of my life. I was still working as an aquatic scientist, but one afternoon with Ray shifted my entire research and outreach emphasis to soils and soil health. Ray introduced me to the four soil health principles that, at the time, seemed almost radical: 1. Limit disturbance 2. Keep the soil