Why is prairie soil fertile?

We rely on these prairie soils for our foods. Producing foods can be very difficult on the soils. Like mining, soil nutrients are taken up in the plants are taken away to be fed to organisms in cities halfway across the country. This means that farmers need to fertilze their soils to continue to provide health and fertility. read more

Prairie soils are fertile because they have a large amount of organic matter derived from plants. More than half of the biomass of prairie plants is below the surface of the soil. read more

This fertile soil was the foundation of farming that continues today. The plants that are grown on Illinois prairie soil today do not leave as much organic material behind to keep the soil rich. The nutrient content of the soil continues to decrease as the land is farmed. read more