Larry Zibilske: Soil Organic Matter Management for Farms of All Scale, All Crops

Dr. Larry Zibilske, soil scientist, will bring together the overarching topics of soil health and fertility with specifics on soil organic matter management, composting, and sustainability for farmers of all scale, all crops. A microbiologist by training and longtime researcher into commercial-scale sustainable agriculture systems, Dr. Zibilske will relate the science, nature, and practicalities involved in creating an ideal, productive sustainable farming system.

Larry Zibilske Dr. Larry M. Zibilske holds degrees in microbiology and soil science from Texas A&M and a Ph.D. in soil microbiology from the University of Missouri-Columbia. He went on to became a faculty member at the University of Maine, where he started the first research and teaching program in the state's history in soil microbiology and biochemistry. He focused on the roles of soil microbes in agriculture and on ways to increase soil organic matter. In the 1980s, he and a colleague spearheaded the establishment of the first sustainable agriculture curriculum at a land grant university. He has lectured around the world on soil health and fertility and has been published on the topics of soil organic matter management, composting, and moving agricultural production to a more sustainable level. Dr. Zibilske departed as a tenured professor to return to Texas to continue work on soil organic matter management and practice with the USDA-ARS research center in Weslaco as senior research scientist. He was lead scientist of sustainable production practices for vegetables. When that facility closed in 2012, he joined Texas Plant & Soil Lab as vice-president of research.

Recorded Saturday, December 14, 2013