By the end of the program, participants will: 1) know how the Soil Health Nexus defines soil health, 2) be able to conduct demonstrations that show effects of soil health practices, and 3) be able to make research-based recommendations that promote soil health and are economical, based on field assessments and current management practices.
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Many of us take the soil we stand on for granted, including myself. I mean, it’s everywhere – especially on my carpet with 2 boys in my house. However, without soil, we can’t grow crops. Farmers know that soil is a critical part of farming, and making sure that soil can continue to grow crops for many years to come is at the forefront of every farmer’s mind – sometimes without even realizing it.
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The Soil Health Nexus team is making it easier than ever to access valuable soil health information through their newly released Soil Health Toolbox. To date, the team has released resources on conducting on-farm-research that incorporates soil health, and is working on resources on 1) how soil health impacts water quality and flow through the landscape, and 2) understanding and measuring soil’s physical, chemical and biological properties.
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Soil health conferences in South Dakota and Nebraska will take place on February 14, 2019.
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The enthusiasm for the soil health principles in some cases has gotten ahead of the science behind them. To address this, NRCS and the Agricultural Research Services (ARS) lead a diverse group of technical experts in selecting methods to assess six standard soil health indicators, which focus on key physical and biological process that must function well in healthy soils. The document titled “Recommended Soil Health Indicators and Associated Laboratory Procedures”, Technical Note No. 450 (PDF) was developed by a group of experts and provides information getting us closer to understanding the science behind soil health and how it is best measured.
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As the season approaches its conclusion and harvest conditions are most challenging, there are a few things worth remembering to protect and sustain soil health. Consider attending the 2019 Soil Health Conference held on February 4-5.
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Our “instant” culture gravitates to testimonials about how to rapidly increase soil organic matter by 1% within 1 to 3 years. Conversations with lenders and landlords regarding rewards on manure applications and multi-species cover crops investments would likely be easier if financial rewards or measured soil physical properties came quickly.
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Maintaining soil fertility is important not only for profitable crop production, but also soil health. In a long-term P and K fertility trial, we can see that there is much greater residue cover in plots that have received adequate potash applications over time compared to where no K was applied. Application of P had minimal to no effect on residue cover.
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Have you ever wondered how to demonstrate differences in the health of soils? At a recent meeting of the Soil Health Nexus team, Stan Boltz of the South Dakota Natural Resources Conservation Service shared tips and tricks he uses when demonstrating soil health principles to producers and other farm advisors.
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Wet weather results in shallow groundwater depths and saturated soils, whereas, dry weather results in lower groundwater depths. Establishing a vegetative cover is the key to utilize excessive soil moisture, intercepting salt-carrying water before it will affect productive areas, reducing evaporation from the soil surface, adding organic material and increasing microbial activity. With time, these headlands might be planted with crops like wheat, canola and corn and soybean again.
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