Today's innovative farmers are getting down to earth

A global study of land and agricultural methods shows dramatic differences in soil quality between farms that employ some simple management tools and those that don’t. “Clever farmers” show how we can make healthier, more productive soil.   The latest trendy capital improvements in farming include items like GPS-guided tractors and aerial photography drones, but a University of Washington scientist says farmers get their biggest return on investment from something much more down to earth: soil improvement.“Soil health is the best infrastructure investment the world has to offer,” said David Montgomery, a professor of geomorphology, which is the study of the earth’s surface. And he’s optimistic about the future of farming, as a result.“Almost all of our food comes from the soil. We see a declining volume of farmland from urbanization and development, a history of losing soil to erosion and weathering. Better farming practices, the kind that build soils, is the direction that responsible public policy would take us.”