Welcome to Sustainable Soils. We believe the key to human health, and the health of all we consume, begins in the soil. Healthy soil means high-quality, nutrient-dense crops and livestock forage. Soil is healthiest when it contains eleven essential mineral nutrients, balanced and in optimum percentages. Also essential for healthy plants, animals, and humans is the presence of trace minerals.
This optimum mineral balance also improves beneficial biological activity, soil structure, tilth, drainage, and maximizes water infiltration and retention, reducing erosion and providing good performance during periods of drought.
Our Inspiration
What we do is based on the research of Dr. William A. Albrecht, conducted at the University of Missouri Agricultural Experiment Station in Columbia, Missouri from the 1920s through the early 1960s. Dr. Albrecht was the Chairman of the Department of Soils at the university from 1938 through 1959.
Dr. Albrecht was a visionary and his contributions in developing the optimum percentages of eleven key fertility elements have been far reaching and are timeless. In an interview with Acres Magazine in its second issue over 44 years ago, he greeted the interviewer by saying, “Let me help you catch a vision.” His expertise and humility were illustrated quite profoundly as he explained, “My problem is to get a vision, and my graduate students, helping me a leg at a time, let me catch the vision.” In the course of his learning and teaching lifetime, Dr. Albrecht wrote approximately 445 papers on sound agricultural practices. He studied, researched, and put into scientific language and practice what Nature already had in place. Learn more about the science.
Our Founder
It was both during his oenological studies and while experimenting with growing different fine tobaccos that Bill Smith first explored the interrelationship between soil, and crops, and the science of soil chemistry and nutrient balance. This led to an intensive study of the work of Dr. Albrecht regarding the relationship between soil minerals, biological activity and how they affect food crops, with a specific interest in sustainable agricultural practices.
Bill’s mission with Sustainable Soils is to use this knowledge of soil science for the benefit of farmers, gardeners and landscapers … all those with an interest in improving soil, lessening dependence on chemical fertilizer methods, and improving the health of plants, animals, and humans through the production of nutrient-dense food.
Beyond his work with current clients, Bill brings long-term, extensive experience in both the chemical and wine industries to the table. In addition to his background in quality control and laboratory experience, he has been involved with the wine industry for nearly 15 years and holds the Advanced Certificate with Distinction from the Wine and Spirit Education Trust of London, England.