Throughout history, the industry has often looked at soil health from a chemistry perspective — but if we’re going to facilitate true impact, Dale Overton says it’s actually biology that matters.
Dale Overton has spent years studying the intricacies of soil health, and he’s convinced that we’ve been looking at it all wrong. “Most people don’t truly understand what a healthy soil is,” he says. “That’s because soils aren’t homogenous—you’ve got different types in different locations. So really, soil health is about function, and function is about biology.”
For decades, modern agriculture has prioritized chemistry—fertilizers, pesticides, and fungicides—often at the expense of the biological processes that naturally sustain soil ecosystems. “When we think about soil health, chemistry does matter, but it’s the biology that controls the chemistry,” Overton explains. “We’ve largely ignored soil biology, except when it comes to pathogens. The reality is that 98% of fungi are beneficial or neutral, but we spend all our effort non-selectively killing them. That’s a huge problem.”
How We Got Here: The Appeal of Easy Solutions
So how did we get to this point? Overton doesn’t mince words. “It’s the path of least resistance,” he says. “When chemical fertilizers and pesticides came along, they made things easier. And people like easy. But we didn’t necessarily understand the long-term consequences.”
Those consequences are now becoming clear—depleted soil health, lower organic matter, and increasing dependence on synthetic inputs. The challenge, Overton says, is to reverse course in a way that is both practical and economically viable for farmers.
The Road to Healthier Soils
Regenerative agriculture has become a buzzword in the industry, but Overton believes we need a more nuanced understanding of what’s possible. “True regeneration means leaving soil alone, and that’s just not realistic in modern farming,” he says. “What we can do is mitigate damage and extend the longevity of our soils.”
One key approach? Managing crop residues. “Fungi break down organic matter faster than bacteria without sucking nitrogen out of the system. The problem is, we kill fungi with tillage and fungicides. That leaves most agricultural soils devoid of beneficial fungi, and the first ones to come back are pathogens.”
Cover cropping, reduced tillage, and smarter fertility management are all steps in the right direction. “We need to move away from salt-based fertilizers and think more about working with soil biology rather than against it,” Overton says. “And we have to educate farmers on why this matters.”
