The Importance of Soil Health for Farmers STRATEGIES FOR SUSTAINABLE CROP PRODUCTION AND SOIL MANAGEMENT
Dean Frank, Conservation Agronomist
One of the first things farmers need to consider when growing crops is their land. The land and soil used to grow crops should be at the forefront of every operation. As we continue to use the land, soil health is becoming increasingly important. There are no two fields with the same soil makeup, and there is no universal practice to improve soil health that will work in every field and operation. It is up to us as stewards of the land to identify what our soils need to be healthy and take steps to ensure their fertility in the future. The soil in our fields is like a large city with vast networks of interconnected parts. Healthy soils are full of living organisms, like people in the city, that are working to create a thriving community. Aggregates that create pore spaces act as transportation and utility services. The more opportunity the soil gets to build its structure, the bigger and better that “city” becomes. Practices like crop rotation and cover crops help build organic matter and bring nutrients into the soil, while excess tillage can act like a bulldozer demolishing those communities. Past farming practices worked for growing crops but often left the soil ignored and in worse shape. It takes years to build or improve organic matter in a field and decades to create new soil. It only takes a strong wind or heavy rain in a field with poor soil structure to fill the ditch with soil meant for crops. Fortunately, there are a variety of ways to create and manage healthy soil: reduced soil disturbance, keeping the soil covered, diverse crop rotations, keeping a living root in the soil, and integrating livestock. While every one of these practices is not viable for every field, most operations can find a way to make a combination of practices work for their fields. Reducing soil disturbance is one of the best ways to allow soils to begin their transformation back to a healthy state, allowing for the soil and organic matter to build a nutrient-rich environment capable of handling a variety of weather conditions. Healthy soil structures can act as a sponge, taking in larger amounts of water and holding onto that moisture for when it is needed. Stronger soils can support equipment like planters in wet conditions more than overworked soils can. Deep conventional tillage creates beautiful black dirt and an ideal seedbed but also destroys and rips apart that useful spongelike soil. Keeping the soil covered in a variety of ways ensures that the soil is protected from the elements, reduces moisture evaporation from the field, and protects the soil from extreme temperature changes. Cover crops have a multitude of benefits, including breaking up compaction, building organic matter, capturing solar energy, and suppressing weeds. The longer our soils stay covered, the more the ecosystem can work to extract nutrients from the soil for the crops. Taking on practices to improve and maintain healthy soils can seem like a daunting task; however, growers are not alone. The Central Farm Service community is here to help growers navigate practices, programs, and supports that operations may take on during their soil health journey. CFS has agronomists, precision agronomists, and me, Dean Frank, CFS’s new conservation agronomist—who are all able to identify where to start. We want to ensure that you are farming land, not just space. If you have any questions or are looking for support with your soil health, do not hesitate to contact any one of the CFS agronomists.
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