BOZEMAN, Mont., June 17, 2024 - Join NRCS Montana in celebrating soil health and participate in the Soil Your Undies Challenge this summer! Get a pair of 100% cotton underwear, grab a shovel, and join in on this fun and easy activity. After 2 months, “harvest” your undies and see what’s left!
Since they are made of cotton, undies are a natural plant material and can be used as a food source by life in the soil.
The healthier the microorganisms in our soil, the healthier and more productive our soil will be. Microorganisms deliver necessary nutrients to plants and help to breakdown plant residue. You don’t always need a fancy tool to understand and gauge the health of your soil. Soil health is directly tied to that soil’s ability to be resilient, productive, and function.
Healthy soil contains billions of microbes that consume organic material (in this case, cotton underwear). In fact, one teaspoon of healthy soil contains more microbes than there are people on the planet. In addition to chowing down on organic matter like cotton, microbes help soil resist erosion, cycle nutrients, and store water.
If you participate in the Soil Your Undies Challenge you can check out the health of your soil and the microbe activity.
The healthier your soil is the less undies you’ll have when you dig them up!
We would love to see your results, email your “planting” (before) and “harvesting” (after) photos, your location, and a little about you and your operation to mt-nrcs-publicinfo@ usda.gov.
Go to https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/montana/soilhealth to get more information about the challenge and learn about soil health in Montana!
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