Cannabis Chronicles

At first glance, a discussion of Dr William Albrecht would appear to be a very strange topic for a medical marijuana blog. To the best of our knowledge, Dr Albrecht himself never had a thing to do with Cannabis, and we have no idea how he’d feel about the political issues surrounding medical-pot. However his insight and teachings have had a great influence on the 3LB’s, and there’s no doubt in our minds that Dr Albrecht has earned our recognition here at the bird’s nest.

With a body of published work that spans a great portion of the 20th Century, Dr Albrecht and his teachings are not universally accepted. In some circles Albrecht has been elevated to dramatic heights, being called the “Father of Soil Fertility Research”. One website describing Albrecht’s work included the following endorsement; “Dr. William A. Albrecht, professor of soils at the University of Missouri College of Agriculture, was first a student of nature, and his greatest credential was that Nature accepted his findings, worked with them, and delivered much of American agriculture from the bondage of ignorance.”

Saying that a man delivered American agriculture from the bondage of ignorance is pretty strong hyperbole, so why isn’t this man’s name a household word? For starters, I’m not sure anyone toiling in the somewhat obscure field of soil sciences will ever become a household name. Perhaps another reason Albrecht never became a household name is the rather dense nature of his writing. He’s not always easy to understand. Since much of his essential work was written nearly 100 years ago, some of the language feels archaic. And, we’d guess that an academic life devoted to understanding the complex interactions of soil, didn’t exactly give Albrecht the time or tools to become a great writer. However his writings and research are a treasure trove of information for individuals willing to give him some time and effort.

But, in all honesty, the greatest reason you may not have heard of Dr William Albrecht, is that his theories are not universally accepted.

Some scientists dismiss the bulk of his theories, which, if nothing else, demonstrates how much mankind has yet to learn about soil productivity and plant health. Albrecht’s first paper appeared in 1918, and although he retired from a career as a professor of soils at the University of Missouri College of Agriculture in 1959, Dr Albrecht continued to publish until 1970, just four years before his death at age 85 in 1974.

Here’s a very brief biography of Dr William Albrecht we put together:

Father of Soil Fertility Research - Dr. William A. Albrecht

One of the 20th Century’s leading authorities on soil fertility and soil microbiology, Dr William Albrecht was also among the first individuals to find a connection between soil fertility and balance of an area, and the nutritional quality of food that land produces. Dr. Albrecht also drew direct connections between poor quality forage crops, and ill health in livestock.

Throughout his life, Dr. Albrecht looked to nature to guide his research and learn what optimizes soil, plant, animal, and even human health. Fairly early on in his research, Albrecht attributed many common disease conditions found in livestock directly to those animals being fed poor quality feeds. In Albrecht’s mind, that meant forage grown on soils that were deficient in essential elements. Put yet another way, Albrecht insightfully observed that “Food is fabricated soil fertility.”

William Albrecht was born on a farm in central Illinois near the town of Flanagan in 1888. He attended the nearby University of Illinois earning four degrees, A.B. in 1911, B.S. in Agriculture in 1914, M.S. in 1915, and his Ph.D. in 1919. From there he moved to the University of Missouri College of Agriculture, where he served as an emeritus Professor of Soils. Albrecht eventually became the Chairman of the Department of Soils at the University of Missouri, giving that institution 43 years of service before his retirement in 1959.

Dr. Albrecht was a prolific writer for a variety of agricultural and scientific journals, a habit that didn’t change after his retirement. He continued to publish until just four years before his death in 1974 at the age of 86. Upon his passing, he bequeathed his collection of research and papers to an established sustainable agriculture magazine, Acres USA. Those writings are available in a four volume series that is simply titled, The Albrecht Papers.

Albrecht’s most controversial theories revolve around the liming of soils, and the role of calcium in plant nutrition. Prior to Albrecht’s contributions, it was commonly believed in the agricultural community that liming was used almost exclusively to treat excessive soil acidity. Using this common agricultural paradigm, the purpose of liming was to increase pH on acidic soils, which in turn served to make some soil nutrients more available to plants.

This pH based outlook remains prevalent even today on cannabis message boards, especially so in forums that focus on hydroponic growing techniques. Even in the organic growing cannabis community, many growers still insist that soil pH is an important, even essential, concern. Dr William Albrecht, and those of us who base our growing efforts on his research, certainly would strongly disagree with that pH based outlook.

In 1928, after a decade of extensive work, research, and observation, Dr Albrecht realized that calcium played a more extensive role in plant health than had previously been believed. While most of the rest of the agricultural word was busy being captivated by research revolving around an N-P-K based viewpoint, Albrecht was calling calcium the “Prince of Nutrients”.

Albrecht had a certain disdain for the common pH based agricultural outlook, an outlook that we share to a great extent. Dr. Albrecht went as far as calling soil acidity a “Bugaboo that farmers for years have been uselessly fighting.”

Instead, according to the “Albrecht Method”, natural soil acidity is not much more than a sign that the soil itself suffered from a shortage of fertility in a number of plant nutrients. Albrecht said, “It is not the acidity in soils that is injurious, but the shortage of nutrients that are replaced by the acidity. This acid condition is merely a case of increased shortage of plant food nutrients for which crops suffer.”

Professor Albrecht is saying, rather emphatically, that increasing the pH of acid soils by itself isn’t enough to grow healthy (and nutritious) plants. Instead, the real keys to healthy and vigorous plant growth are the enlightened management of the soil, and the balancing of nutritional elements. According to Albrecht’s theories, calcium is at the top of the list of those soil borne elements necessary to nourish soil and plant health.

The 3LB’s would like to give a warm (but posthumous) welcome to Dr William Albrecht, a true pioneer and visionary, and the latest addition to our Cannabis Chronicles “Wall of Fame”.