How Do Farmers Identify the Most Fertile Soil?

Agricultural organizations around the world are coming to the realization that a pair of cotton underpants can tell farmers a lot about the quality of their soil. From the United Kingdom to California, farmers are trying out this unconventional method, burying undies in their fields and digging them up a couple of months later. Healthy soil teeming with microbes and bacteria will devour the cotton, leaving behind only the waistband. In lifeless soil, the unearthed undies come out intact.

Underwear goes underground:

• Evan Wiig, executive director of the California Farmers’ Guild, explained that “cotton is an organic material and breaks down naturally, just like anything else you’d put in your compost pile.”
• Soil conditions on beef and sheep farms directly influence how well grass and forage crops grow. In turn, this affects the quality of the feed that they produce. Better feed leads to more robust animals.
• Scottish farmer Iain Green has been burying underwear on his 2,800-acre farm since September 2017 and says that the results have provided valuable insights.