This episode is for you if you are a farmer, land manager, policy maker, or scientist. Dr. Jocelyn Lavallee (Natural Resources Ecology Laboratory, Colorado State University) joins your host Tom Franklin to discuss all things "soil organic matter". We learn that testing for soil organic matter may offer an inadequate picture of your land as it changes in response to a climate change world. What then should be tested? .... "It's as easy as POM and MAOM".
2:59...how to say SOM POM MAOM and what they mean
4:02...measuring SOM by combustion is a thing of the past
6:10...measuring POM and MAOM based on density and size
14:35...Tom suggests using other acronyms and Jocelyn counters with "this is the most straight forward way"
18:56...what Jocelyn would like to see when farmers sample soil...standard practices
22:19...Earthworm castings are hot spots for biological activity
23:54...the 4 per mille initiative...when it comes to persistence MAOM is in it for the long haul
30:50...the quality of POM depends on the litter quality that it came from
32:38...could livestock create the highest quality POM without N P K fertilizer inputs?
34:08...nitrogen limits increases in MAOM...are some farmers exaggerating SOM progress or are their claims real?
40:49..."use POM and MAOM for pools in climate models"...the present models are limited in their usefulness

Thanks Jocelyn!