Even a soil scientist can get confused by the numbers/values related to Soil Organic Carbon and Soil Organic Matter. Here's a quick refresher.

What happens when living organisms die? They decompose. The basics of the life cycle are well known to most people. In the terrestrial carbon cycle, plants use photosynthesis to harvest energy from the sun and carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, storing them as carbon-rich materials in their tissues.

Soil organic matter (SOM) provides many benefits for crop production in Kansas. Higher SOM levels mean better soil aggregation, improved water infiltration, less compactability, less erodibility, and a generally higher level of productivity due to more available water and nutrients.