Soil Health Principles
Based on Soil Conservationist, Jay Fuhrer’s work at Menoken Farm, back around 2014 the NRCS formalized Soil Health Principles ; that were further expanded by Gabe Brown’s work in North Dakota. These principles have become the cornerstone of regenerative crop fertility, adaptive grazing management and overall sustainability based upon years of research amongst institutions, experts, farmers and ranchers. Without these principles in place, and continued dependence on synthetic fertilizers we observe continued breakdown of yields requiring more inputs, at increased cost of production/unit, increased use of fungicides and pesticides, increased soil compaction requiring increased draft/horsepower at tillage, and decreased water infiltration and droughty soils, leading to increased water and soil erosion…which added together is almost like ‘shooting ourselves in the foot’, since soil is the foundation of all current and future crop and livestock productivity and economic sustainability.
Producers embracing Soil Health Principles, putting them into practice wholeheartedly, are seeing immeasurable benefits! Increasing the use of cover crops and diversified crop rotations enables them to decrease (or eliminate) synthetic fertilizer rates; shifting to biological amendments increases soil aggregate structure, soil microbial activity and nutrient cycling, crop resilience and drought resistance through increased organic matter and water infiltration. They also see decreased veterinary bills and livestock inputs, with increased gains in livestock productivity (often following a shift to lower average frame size of their breeding stock). Crops and livestock are healthier and more productive, and producers are seeing increased returns on investments and their bottom-line.
Over the next few months these article will highlight those aspects of Soil Health principles you can begin to put into practice, as we continue to encourage each other towards greater stewardship of our common heritage, the soil.
- Context
- Minimize disturbance
- Armor the Soil (increase residue)
- Maintain Living Roots (green cover)
- Integrate Livestock
- Increase Biodiversity
Knowing our ecological context is like having a compass pointing to our destination; the compass
arrow may shift as our context adjusts to adaptive management practices; as soil microbial health increases, creating a difference in crop and livestock performance. Context is the first and most important part of assessing our starting point as we begin to manage for Soil Health by considering our climate and soils, lay of the land and waterways. For example Douglas County is in Zone 6b, according to the USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map, that has a huge impact on planting dates, varietal selection and our growing season.
The Kansas Mesonet is the ‘go to’ place for climate data in Kansas, hosted by our State Climatology Department at Kansas State University. There are actually two Mesonet websites: mesonet.k-state.edu and more general Mesonet.k-state.edu/climate The first is where you can find more of the agriculturally related weather and climate data: historical weather, average and actual precipitation, current soil moisture, growing degree days, current crop progress and drought forecasts, or current weather data from the nearest weather station. The second website is more general climate data.
Accurate soil data helps understand the inherent soil morphology, mineral content and inherent organic matter of our soils. The United Stated Department of Agriculture (USDA) and Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) digitized the original Soil Conservation Maps, via the Web Soil Survey. One can enter a location and receive an accurate picture of soil type, with detailed descriptions for inherent fertility, and crop suitability.
While considering context, some of the more obvious factors include slope, or lay of the land, ponds, creeks and waterways. The overall orientation of your fields and considering natural water infiltration based on sand, silt or clay percentages of your soil will help determine natural contours, field breaks or pasture layout, often determined by waterways and streams or ley lines.
Besides these environmental factors, contextual considerations for farm operations must also include the human and socioeconomic picture, financial opportunities and constraints including markets, along with the family relationships surrounding the farm enterprise. Are you operating a solo operation or are family participating in the daily operations and management? Are tasks divided according to strengths and abilities or shared across broad areas of management? Defining roles and responsibilities can further define ‘Context’ of management, increasing labor efficiency at any scale of production. Understanding these broader elements of the farm operation – the climate, soil, water, crops, livestock and other aspects of production can sharpen focus and clarify the inter-relationships between the various parts of the operation…informing crop rotations, and ideas for integrating livestock into a whole-farm approach for fertility management, which will be discussed in further detail.
When we grasp the Context of our farm enterprise, we are can take note of how the various ‘parts’ are interrelated – is there a grain crop that would also allow for an inter-seeded cover crop for mid-late summer grazing after grain harvest? Where are the windows of opportunity to begin managing your farm as a whole system? One tenant of Holistic Management is that the ‘whole’ is greater than the sum of the parts – which gets into the concept of compounding benefits that begin to take place as we manage for diversity.
Hopefully, as you finalize cropping and grazing plans for the 2025 growing season, you’ll take a moment to draw out the different aspects of Context on your farms…which opportunities can add to your bottom line while also bringing the greatest benefit to Soil Health?