Soil health assessment includes more than traditional soil fertility analysis. Soil health encompasses physical, chemical, and biological soil properties, which all come together to provide a healthy, living soil for optimal plant growth. Traditional soil fertility analysis, supported with university research, is still the approved practice for assessing plant nutrient requirements and determining fertilizer rates. […]
Carbon is the currency of nature: the backbone of soil organic matter and the energy source for soil microorganisms. Therefore, much interest in soil health focuses on increasing carbon storage in soil. When you reduce tillage or increase crop rotation diversity, you expect soil organic matter to increase. However, soil organic matter often changes slowly […]
Soil aggregates are the building blocks of soil structure. Soil texture is the relative percentage of sand, silt, and clay in soil, but soil structure describes how those particles are arranged in the soil profile. Soil aggregates are glued together with soil organic matter, plant root exudates, and microorganisms like fungi. We classify soil aggregates […]
This submission is courtesy of Dr. Caley Gasch, Assistant Professor of Soil Health, North Dakota State University, Fargo, ND. It was originally published in the AGVISE Newsletter Winter 2017. Multiple definitions of “soil health” exist. In general, they all recognize that soil is a complex system, with interacting physical, chemical, and biological factors, which should […]
Soil organic matter is a fundamental component of soil. It is comprised of living microorganisms, recently decomposed plant material, and stable humus organic compounds. Soil organic matter influences numerous biological, chemical, and physical properties of soil. It influences soil structure, water holding capacity, nutrient cycling, biological activity, and chemical fate and transport (e.g. pesticides). Soil […]
Producers in the northern Great Plains and upper Midwest need to consider the risk of fallow syndrome in their crop nutrition plans. You are probably asking, what is “fallow syndrome” and why should I care? After all, summer fallow is not that common anymore! But the greater number of Prevented Planting acres in 2019 and […]
In 2020, there are again widespread acres of Prevented Planting (PP) in North Dakota and northwest Minnesota. Farmers are now making plans to plant cover crops on unplanted cropland in the next few weeks. It is important to establish cover crops on PP fields because growing plants help reduce the chance these fields will be […]