Renewable Roots

Missaukee Conservation District offers a deep dive into soil, native plants, and biochar

By Ross Boissoneau | Nov. 9, 2024

The name might throw you off, but the Renewable Roots Convention is not about exploring your ancestry. Nor is it about Americana, blues, or other roots music.

No, this conference is all about renewing the earth beneath our feet to benefit the roots of plants and thus the plants themselves. And according to the experts, our soil needs it. Turns out our dirt is pretty terrible.

“The health of our soil isn’t what it used to be. There are a number of reasons,” says Liam Daniels, soil conservationist with the Missaukee Conservation District.

He attributes the decline in large part to erosion, starting with the clear-cutting of Michigan’s forests. “The decline began in the logging era. The Great Fires [wildfires that swept through the state in 1871 and 1881] left the ground open to erosion.”

Erin Horton, who is organizing the convention as Missaukee’s conservation outreach coordinator, says that impacts the plants that grow in it. “The soil in our nation is low quality. It’s lost nutrients, the microorganisms,” she says. “An apple today has 40 percent less nutrients than an apple of 50 years ago.”

Fixing the Soil

The Renewable Roots Convention will take place at the Timber Wolf Lake Camp outside Lake City Nov. 18 and 19. It will feature a number of experts discussions and presenting informational workshops regarding forestry, native plants, invasive species, biochar, and other topics of interest. Certification courses in both Project Wild and Project Learning Tree will also be offered.

Daniels will be among the presenters at the conference. “At the Renewable Roots Convention, I’ll present on soil health,” he says. “It’s a good primer to get people thinking about what they can do on their land.”

Daniels says he works with landowners of all sorts who want to be good stewards of their properties. “My own passion is plants that help soil, natural grasses, and wildflowers. I’m a huge proponent of wildflowers around the house,” he says.

He believes the soil can be amended to provide better yields and more nutrition to the things that grow in it, but it won’t be easy.

“Can it be fixed? The short answer is yes. For you and me, the [first] thing we can do is planting native whenever we can. Big bluestem [grass] can get seven feet tall with roots 12 feet in the soil. They hold water like a sponge and contribute to the soil after they’re dead.”

He adds, “Do your best not to disturb the soil. Excessive tillage destroys the soil structure and is harmful to crops in general.”

The Beauty of Biochar

Daniels says biochar is a topic of particular interest to those who work with the soil. For neophytes, this is probably the least-well known portion of the proceedings, but one with huge implications.

Biochar is the product of any biomass being burned with very little oxygen. The process, known as pyrolysis, sequesters carbon and can be inoculated with various nutrients and incorporated into the soil. “It can be any biomass—twigs, corn husks, cow dung,” explains Horton.

Laurie Mann of American Biochar will be discussing the benefits of adding biochar to the soil. She’s a true evangelist for biochar, enthusiastically enumerating its virtues.

“It’s been around quite a while. It’s a hot topic. I’ve watched it become a bigger deal,” she says.

Like charcoal, biochar is an amorphous form of black carbon with thousands of pores and grooves. It is more porous and has a larger surface area than charcoal, which helps it improve soil structure and house beneficial microbes, resulting in healthier soil. While charcoal is derived primarily from wood-based biomass, biochar is produced from a variety organic material, including agricultural waste, plant residues, wood chips, etc.

“You can use any biomass, but some produce porous [material] better than others: manure, grasses, then walnut and pistachio shells, then wood. We use softwood. We’re picky because we’re going to sell it,” says Mann. Indeed, the company she and her husband Mark started continues to grow as more people become familiar with the product.

While biochar may indeed be a hot topic today, as Mann says, it has been around quite a while—like 2,500 years or more. Its use to improve the fertility of soils originated in the Amazon basin, where the indigenous population would create charcoal, mix it with organic matter and broken pottery, and incorporate it into the soil.

Mann says biochar by itself is a great filtration component. It can hold water like a sponge without dripping. When mixed with other materials to improve the soil, it will benefit whatever is grown there.

“What you blend it with is super, super important. Our soils are very degraded, and the porosity and longevity of biochar creates pores and spaces to act as a home for organisms,” she says. “It holds water, oxygen, and biological material that translates into food. Without it, the soil collapses on itself and is compacted.”

All Are Welcome

The Renewable Roots convention will include numerous speakers on other topics relating to soil, soil health, and keeping the planet green on a local basis. Among them will be Goats for Invasive Species Management, presented by Heather Greenwald, a farmer in Blair Township; Native Plants for Soil Erosion Prevention, presented by members of the Kalkaska Conservation District; Environmental Practices for the Hobby Farm, presented by the Wexford Conservation District; Large Scale Community Composting, presented by SEEDS Ecology & Education Centers; and Forest Forensics, presented by MSU Extension and Julie Crick.

There will even be an Invasive Species ID Hike guided by the North Country Cooperative Invasive Species Management Area, a Cadillac-based organization serving Lake, Mason, Mecosta, Missaukee, Osceola, and Wexford Counties.

The convention will also offer continuing education courses. The Project Wild/PLT Certification course is in three parts. “We’re excited to offer it for teachers,” says Horton. “The hands-on lessons get kids interested. Project Wild is a K-12 [program] focused on environmental education.”

Horton says the convention is geared toward a variety of interests and attendees. “There are courses for educators, community members, farmers, loggers, conservation district employees, environmental groups,” she says. She anticipates around 200 people.

For more information, go to missaukeecd.org/workshops. You can also call the Missaukee Conservation District at (231) 839-7193.