Glomalin

Will somebody please make an action hero out of this material!  Superman for the soil?

This is a sticky fungal protein which some say is the holy grail of a well-structured soil.  Click here for a great article on this material.  This highly adhesive material is what holds a great soil together and keeps it from becoming powdery dust.  (Did you happen to see Ken Burn’s recent PBS documentary on the Dust Bowl?)  Glomalin is produced by Mycorrhizae.  It belongs to the slimes/exudates/manures category that we talk about, but it is made by the plant roots.  The more roots the soil has, the more glomalin it will have.  The more Mycorrhizae in the soil, the faster we accelerate the process of producing glomalin.  Glomalin helps prevent soil from losing its critical organic matter (see our new company purpose).  It has an especially strong connection to biochar as well.  It is suspected that biochar could accelerate glomalin production from Mycorrhizae, resulting in additional carbon sequestration/storage in the soil, more than just the biochar’s carbon addition alone.  The more carbon in the soil, the faster we reach 3.9% Soil Organic Matter.