Abstract
Assessment tools are needed to evaluate the effect of farming practices on soil health, as there is increasing interest from growers to improve the health of their soils. However, there is limited information on the efficacy of different soil health indicators on commercial farms and perhaps less so on organic farms. To assess efficacy, three organic growers in cooperation with the Ecological Farmers Association of Ontario’s Farmer-Led Research Program tested management sensitivity, measurement repeatability, and consistency of interpretation of different soil health indicators. On each farm, we compared permanganate-oxidizable carbon (active carbon), organic matter, wet aggregate stability, phospholipid fatty acid analysis, Haney soil health test, and Haney nutrient test on one field of grower-perceived high productivity, one field of grower-perceived low productivity, and one reference site (undisturbed, permanent cover). Our results were consistent with previous research that showed grower perception of productivity and soil health associated with management-sensitive soil health indicators. Of the indicators tested, active carbon was the only indicator that was sensitive, repeatable, and consistent across the three farms, and soil organic matter was highly repeatable and consistent to detect differences greater than 0.5% organic matter. This study highlights differences among soil health indicators on commercial farms, and it concludes that active carbon and organic matter were the most useful soil health indicators for these organic farms. Participating growers intend to use results to benchmark current soil status and to help guide land management decisions towards improved soil health.
Highlights
The modern soil health (SH) movement has its roots in the oil embargo of 1973 that spurred a renewed interest in investigating how the soil microbial population could be used to replenish nitrogen (N) available from soil, due to huge increases in the price of N fertilizers
We greatly appreciate the commitments made to this important endeavor, and we look forward to continuing public-private partnerships to enhance soil health for the benefit of generations to come
The soil organic matter (SOM) cycle begins with carbon dioxide (CO2) from the air, which is continuously bound into organic substrates through photosynthesis and chemosynthesis
Summary
The modern soil health (SH) movement has its roots in the oil embargo of 1973 that spurred a renewed interest in investigating how the soil microbial population could be used to replenish nitrogen (N) available from soil, due to huge increases in the price of N fertilizers. There was a push to implement minimum and no-till conservation practices on the land to reduce anthropogenic erosion. In the 1980s, a consortium of public and private entities provided information to land managers on the best ways to implement these new practices. While soil microbial methodologies were relatively primitive at the time, soil biology was always an integral part of the scientific effort to improve the understanding and measurement of soil characteristics. As the capacity to study soil biology improved, discussion of soil quality was replaced by a discussion of soil health as a means of communicating the importance of understanding and managing the soil as a living, breathing ecosystem. NRCS has defined soil health as “the capacity of the soil to function as a vital living ecosystem that supports plants, animals, and humans.”
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