Category Archives: Soil Health

Coming soon!

16Nov/19

Poultry manure improves profits, soil health

A 20-year study by Iowa State University researchers shows fertilizing cropland with poultry manure can benefit soil health and farm profits when compared to a commercial fertilizer. The study looked at long-term impacts of poultry manure on soil quality, crop yield, production costs and water quality in conventional Iowa cropping systems.

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04Oct/19
soil from uprooted grass

Is soil pore structure key to carbon storage?

Dr. Alexandra Kravchenko, Michigan State University professor in the Department of Plant, Soil and Microbial Sciences along with several of her colleagues discovered a new mechanism determining how carbon is stored in soils. A recent article in ScienceDaily drew attention her research findings published in the scientific journal Nature Communications.

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25Jun/19

How can animal manure help my soils be healthier and more productive?

The purpose of this article is to explain how manure application can help improve your soil health and productivity. It is easier to understand soils when we split their characteristics into their chemical, physical, and biological properties. However, these property classes are part of a whole system and are all important.

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03Jun/19

Understanding Farmers, Educators, and Agency Staff’s Perceptions of Soil Health

Over the past decade, there has been significant research aiming to better understand the biophysical processes and indicators of soil health. Significantly less research however, has been dedicated to understanding people’s perceptions surrounding soil health. To help address this research gap, the Soil Health Nexus team conducted a survey to better understand how different audiences define soil health, growers’ perceived barriers to adopting soil health practices and resource needs for teaching soil health.

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25Mar/19

Soil Health Not Just a Trending Topic

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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28Feb/19
Dry crusted soil

Soil Health Nexus debuts new soil health resource

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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