Cover crops help to increase soil biology

SYCAMORE, Ill. — Regenerative agriculture is about mimicking nature’s principles, designs and patterns.

“It is not more difficult than that, put more ecology into your conventional system, more cover crops and stop disturbing the soil so much,” said Ray Archuleta, soil health specialist and founder of Understanding Ag LLC and the Soil Health Academy.

Archuleta has been on thousands of farms all over the world.

“In the last 26 months, I have been on six continents and I’m going to share with you things that are common problems on a global scale,” he said during a presentation in Sycamore at the 2026 Conservation Cropping Seminar, coordinated by the Illinois Department of Agriculture, Illinois Environmental Protection Agency, U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service, and Champaign County Soil and Water Conservation District.

The soil scientist has been to every state in the United States, as well as Puerto Rico, and he stresses that soil is alive.

“That is the No. 1 issue I have with producers globally — they think it is dirt,” he said. “If you don’t get the soil right, nothing else works.”

A tiny change can make a big difference in a biological system.

“Things are so connected that one little thing you do on your operation has a huge outcome,” said Archuleta, who has been working with soil health principles for 30 years.

“That’s why I love providence versus fate — fate is blind and providence is divine,” he said.

For example, Archuleta said, if a livestock farmer moves his cattle or sheep one more time in a pasture rotation, that can make a significant change in the operation.

“We cannot predict biological systems,” he said. “There is no soil test in the world that will predict your soil because it is too elegant and complex. A soil test gives you a snapshot — do not expect any more.”

Archuleta had been planting cover crop mixes since 2007.

“Nature is never naked,” the soil scientist said.

“The best thing we can do for compaction is plant a living cover that leaks acids and feeds the microbes,” he said. “I want fibrous roots leaking acids on every square inch because that is what changes clay soils and sandy soils.”

Plants capture light energy and move that energy into the root system.

“Most farmers are not feeding the microbes enough,” Archuleta said. “These micro cows are protozoa that are grazing around and eating bacteria.”

The fungi run the underworld, the soil scientist said.

“They release the nitrogen and bring the phosphorus and trace minerals,” Archuleta said.

“The more fungi you bring into the system, the weed population begins to shift because weeds love bacteria-dominated soils,” he said.

“As the soils become more fungal, the forms of nitrogen shift to a more organic form, so I want more fungal dominance; I don’t want bacteria-dominant soils.”

“With tillage, you are disrupting all the workers, that’s why I love no-till because a disk destroys the house,” Archuleta said. “I’m not saying don’t use tillage, but use it wisely because it is a destructive tool.”

It is important for all farmers to know their context.

“Are you farming here or are you farming in New Mexico?” the soil scientist questioned. “The context changes, but the principles do not; they work in Brazil or in Europe.”

When Archuleta visits the farm, the first tool he uses is a shovel. He will take a soil sample from a fence row and have that sample evaluated with a Haney test.

“I want to get a benchmark condition of your operation before you start making decisions,” he explained.

“The Haney test is useful because it measures nitrogen in the organic form and all the amino acids,” he said.

Archuleta encourages farmers to be scientists and do their own research.

“Farmers don’t do their own research because they lack the margin,” he said.

The soil scientist works with innovators that are changing the community.

“We’re helping the soil to provide its own fertility using microbes,” he said. “We’re learning how to make the biology more active in the soil with cover crops, no-till and by growing your own biologicals.”