Agronomy, Soil Science, and just plain Dirt

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Agronomy and soil science are about dirt. The two used to be synonymous, but agronomy has evolved to so much more, and soil science is subtopic or subset.

According to the Wikipedia article - "Agronomy (Ancient Greek ἀγρός agrós 'field' + νόμος nómos 'law') is the science and technology of producing and using plants for food, fuel, fiber, and land reclamation. Agronomy has come to encompass work in the areas of plant genetics, plant physiology, meteorology, and soil science." Reference: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agronomy

From the American Society of Agronomy website:
https://www.agronomy.org/about-agronomy

Agronomy, like other sciences, has gone high tech as well. One can specialize in microbiology, biochemistry and physiology of microbes and fungi to huge towering trees, or plant nutrition. The science of meteorology is another aspect. Plants need water and food (soil) like animals need water and food.

I started the thread because I was trying to find a place for the following article:

Iowa farmers ripped out prairie; now some hope it can save them
https://www.washingtonpost.com/nati...f747a2-5274-11e6-88eb-7dda4e2f2aec_story.html

Not only does prairie, with its deep-rooted plants, soak up farm wastewater that pollutes rivers, it also enriches soil.
Prairie grass can take up farm waste water and prevent excess nitrogen and fertilizers from washing down river and to the ocean where they contribute to dead zones.

Also, I searched the forum for "Agronomy" and found no responses.

I enjoy gardening, and I wish I had taken some agronomy courses while an undergraduate.
 
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Nothing like a bit of dirt in the morning.
 
Hi. I have the article filed in a folder I call "ecosystems/biogeography"