William Albert Albrecht (September 12, 1888 – May 19, 1974) chairman of the Department of Soils at the University of Missouri, was the foremost authority on the relation of soil fertility to human health and earned four degrees from the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign. As emeritus professor of soils at the University of Missouri, he saw a direct link between soil quality, food quality and human health. He drew direct connections between poor quality forage crops, and ill health in livestock and from this developed a formula for ideal ratios of cations in the soil, the Base Cation Saturation Ratio. While he did not discover cation exchange in the soil as is sometimes supposed, he may have been the first to associate it with colloidal clay particles. He served as 1939 President of the Soil Science Society of America.Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J. 75:1179–1188 doi:10.2136/sssaj2010.0107pres_and_yearly_reports
Twenty years before the phrase 'environmental concern' crept into the national consciousness, he was lecturing from coast to coast on the broad topic of agricultural ecology. (C. Edmund Marshall, In Memoriam, 'Plant and Soil' vol 48.)
Early life William Albrecht was born of German ancestry on a farm on the prairie of north central Illinois in the Midwest United States. After attending the local school, he progressed via preparatory school to the University of Illinois, where he obtained a B.A. degree in liberal arts. This led to a position teaching Latin and other subjects at Bluffton University, Ohio.
Albrecht later returned to Illinois to gain a B.S. degree in biology and agricultural science. He then started graduate research in Botany whilst also teaching in the department of botany. This period was key to his lifelong devotion to the scientific study of plant physiology and agriculture. It enabled him to take a microbiological view of plant structure whilst addressing the soil as a variable environment (either favourable or unsuitable). He presented his doctoral research in 1919, and it was published in the journal Soil Science in 1920 titled 'Symbiotic nitrogen fixation as influenced by nitrogen in the soil' His paper concluded that the nitrogen level in soil had no significant effect on fixation by legumes.
Career Albrecht was a devout agronomist, the foremost authority on the relation of soil fertility to human health and earned four degrees from the University of Illinois. He became emeritus professor of soils at the University of Missouri. Dr. Albrecht saw a direct link between soil quality and food quality, drawing direct connection between poor quality forage crops, and ill health in livestock.
From the late 1930s, as chairman of the Department of Soils at the University of Missouri, he began work at the Missouri Agricultural Experiment Station investigating cation ratios and the growth of legumes. He had been investigating cattle nutrition, having observed that certain pastures seemed conducive to good health, and at some point he came to the conclusion that the ideal balance of cations in the soil was "H, 10%; Ca, 60 to 75% optimal 69%; Mg, 10 to 20% optimal 12%; K, 2 to 5%; Na, 0.5 to 5.0%; and other cations, 5%".Albrecht, W.A. 1975. The Albrecht papers. Vol. 1: Foundation concepts. Acres USA, Kansas City.
While Albrecht was a highly respected soil scientist,Assessing soil fertility; the importance of soil analysis and its interpretation - Johnny Johnston, Lawes Trust Senior Fellow, Rothamsted ResearchA review of the use of the basic cation saturation ratio and the ideal soil - PMM Kopittke, W Neal he discounted soil pH, stating that "plants are not sensitive to, or limited by, a particular pH value of the soil." Instead, he believed that the benefit of liming soil stems from the additional calcium available to the plant, not the increase in pH. This belief has continued to be held by followers to this day, despite opinions to the contrary.Bruce, R.C., Warrell, Edwards and Bell. 1988. Effects of aluminium and calcium in the soil solution of acid soils on root elongation of Glycine max cv. Forrest. Aust. J. Agric. Res. 39:319–338.Alva, A.K., Edwards, Asher and Suthipradit. 1987. Effects of acid soil infertility factors on growth and nodulation of soybean. Agron. J. 79:302–306.Foy, C.D. 1984. Physiological effects of hydrogen, aluminium, and manganese toxicities in acid soil. p. 57–97. In F. Adams (ed.) Soil acidity and liming. Agron. Monogr. 12. 2nd ed. ASA, CSSA, and SSSA, Madison, WI.Liebhardt, W.C. 1981. The basic cation saturation ratio concept and lime and potassium recommendations on Delaware's Coastal Plain soils. Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J. 45:544–549. Like much of the early research into BCSR where soil pH was not controlled, it is difficult to draw solid conclusions from Albrecht's research in support of BCSR.
Throughout his life, Albrecht looked to nature to learn what optimizes soil, and attributing many common livestock diseases directly to those animals being fed poor quality feeds. He observed that :
Albrecht was a prolific author of reports, books and articles that span several decades, starting with his reports on nitrogen fixation and soil inoculation in 1919. MVGUnited States Department of Agriculture, National Agricultural Library
Soil depletion Albrecht was outspoken on matters of declining soil fertility, having identified that it was due to a lack of organic material, major elements, and trace minerals, and was thus responsible for poor crops and in turn for pathological conditions in animals fed deficient foods from such soils.
He laid the blame as:
Death and commemoration On his death he left his research papers to his friend Charles Walters who promoted the ideas by founding the magazine Acres USA, which continues to be at the centre of the ideal soil movement, and is the current owner of the research papers.
List of publications Albrecht published widely from 1918 through 1970:
Variable Levels of Biological Activity in Sanborn Field After Fifty Years of Treatment, Soil Science, 1938 Animals Recognize Good Soil Treatment, Better Crops With Plant Food Magazine, 1940 Organic Matter – The Life of the Soil, Farmer's Week, Ohio State University, 1940 Good Horses Require Good Soils, Horse and Mule Association of America, 1940 Calcium-Potassium-Phosphorus Relation as a Possible Factor in Ecological Array of Plants, Journal of the American Society of Agronomy, 1940 Making Organic Matter Effective in Soil, The Ohio Vegetable and Potato Growers Association, 1940 Calcium as a Factor in Seed Germination, Journal of the American Society of Agronomy, 1941 The Soil as a Farm Commodity or a Factory, Journal of the American Society of Farm Managers and Rural Appraisers, 1941 Soil Organic Matter and Ion Availability for Plants, Soil Science, 1941 Biological Assays of Soil Fertility, Soil Science Society of America, 1941 Potassium in the Soil Colloid Complex and Plant Nutrition, Soil Science, 1941 Feed Efficiency in Terms of Biological Assays of Soil Treatments, Soil Science Society of America, 1942 Health Depends on Soil, The Land, 1942 Soil Management By Nature or By Man?, Western Soils Co., 1942 Soil Fertility and the Human Species, American Chemical Society, Chemical and Engineering News, 1942 We Are What We Eat - St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 1943 Why Do Farmers Plow?, Better Crops With Plant Food Magazine, 1943 Magnesium Depletion in Relation to Some Cropping Systems and Soil Treatments, Soil Science, 1943 We Are What We Eat, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 1943 Make the Grass Greener on Your Side of the Fence, The Business of Farming, 1943 Soil and Livestock, The Land, 1943 Fertilize the Soil Then the Crop, University of Missouri, 1943 Soil Fertility and National Nutrition, Journal of the American Society of Farm Managers and Rural Appraisers, 1944 Better Pastures Depend on Soil Fertility, The Fertilizer Review, 1944 Taking Our Soil for Granted, The Ranchman, 1944 Soil Fertility, Food Source, The Technology Review, 1944 Mobilizing the Fertilizer Resources of Our Nation's Soil, 28th Annual Convention of the National Crushed Stone Association, 1945 How Long Do the Effects from Fertilizer Last?, Better Crops With Plant Food Magazine, 1945 Food Quality from the Soil, Consumer's Research, Inc., 1945 Vegetable Crops in Relation to Soil Fertility, Food Research, 1945 Discrimination in Food Selection by Animals, The Scientific Monthly, 1945 Vegetable Crops in Relation to Soil Fertility-V. Calcium contents of Green Leafy Vegetable, Food Research, 1945 By Soil Treatments on Pastures, Guernsey Breeders' Journal, 1946 Extra Soil Fertility Lengthens Grazing Season!, Guernsey Breeders' Journal, 1946 Why Be a Friend of the Land?, Land Letter, 1946 The Soil as the Basis of Wildlife, Management University of Missouri, 1946 Soil and Livestock Work Together, 42nd Annual Meeting-American Meat Institute, 1947 Soil Fertility - The Basis of Agricultural Production, 4th Annual Meeting of the Western Colorado Horticultural Society, 1947 Soil Fertility and Animal Production, 58th Annual Meeting of the Indiana State Dairy Association, 1947 Our Teeth and our Soils, Annals of Dentistry, 1947 Hidden Hungers Point to Soil Fertility, Chilean Nitrate Educational Bureau, Inc., 1947 Use Extra Soil Fertility to Provide Protein, Guernsey Breeders' Journal, 1947 Better Soils Make Better Hogs, Hampshire Herdsman, 1947 Limestone—The Foremost of Natural Fertilizer, Pit and Quarry, 1947 Soil Fertility and Nutritive Value of Foods, Agricultural Leaders' Digest, 1948 Some Rates of Fertility Decline, Better Crops With Plant Food Magazine, 1948 There is No Substitute for Soil Fertility, Better Crops With Plant Food Magazine, 1948 Quality of Crops also Depends on Soil Fertility, Chilean Nitrate Educational Bureau, Inc., 1948 Potassium Helps Put More Nitrogen into Sweetclover, Journal of the American Society of Agronomy, 1948 National Pattern of Tooth Troubles Points to Pattern of Soil Fertility, Journal of the Missouri State Dental Association, 1948 Climate, Soil, and Health. I. Climatic Soil Pattern and Food Composition, Oral Surgery, Oral Medicine, and Oral Pathology, 1948 Building Soils for Better Herds, Polled Hereford World, 1948 Diversity of Amino Acids in Legumes According to the Soil Fertility, Science, 1948 Carbohydrate-Protein Ratio of Peas in Relation to Fertilization with Potassium, Calcium, and Nitrogen, Soil Science of America Proceedings, 1948 Is the Cure in the Soil?, The Furrow, 1948 Soil and Protein, The Land, 1948 Our Soils Our Food and Ourselves, The Mennonite Community, 1948 Declining Soil Fertility - Its National and International Implications, 4th Annual Convention of National Agricultural Limestone Association, 1949 Nutrition Via Soil Fertility According to the Climatic Pattern, British Commonwealth Scientific Official Conference, 1949 Plant and Animal Nutrition in Relation to Soil and Climatic Factors, British Commonwealth Scientific Official Conference, 1949 Nitrogen for Proteins and Protection Against Disease, Chilean Nitrate Educational Bureau, Inc., 1949 Cows are Capable Soil Chemists, Guernsey Breeders' Journal, 1949 Diseases as Deficiencies Via the Soil, Iowa State College Veterinarian, 1950 Too Much Nitrogen or Not Enough Else?, National Live Stock Producer, 1950 Soil Fertility: Its Climatic Pattern, The Journal of Osteopathy, 1950 Weed Killers and Soil Fertility, The Rural New Yorker, 1950 Quality of Food Crops According to Soil Fertility, The Technology Review, 1945 Soil Fertility and Alfalfa Production, University of Missouri, 1950 Animals Recognize Good Soil Treatment, Better Crops with Plant Food Magazine, 1951 Reconstructing the Soils of the World to Meet Human Needs, Chemurgic Papers, 1951 Soil Fertility in Relation to Animal and Human Health, Milk Industry Foundation Convention Proceedings, 1951 War: Some Agricultural Implications, Organic Gardening, 1951