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Soil health plays a major role in the success of any crop. From how much water and nutrients your soil is able to hold to earthworm populations and soil organic matter, there are a number of considerations to keep in mind related to keeping your soil as healthy and fertile as possible.
Depending on what you keep in the ground, having a living root in the soil can do two things:
Provide a constant food source to soil microbes
Release nutrients into the soil
By releasing nutrient compounds (which can include valuable acids, proteins, sugars, etc.) into the soil, a living root can fix carbon and increase the availability of some micronutrients.
Living roots can also improve the overall structure of soil aggregates, or the groups of soil particles that bind together well, and help to create space for water retention.
No till and minimum tillage systems allow farmers to conserve soil moisture and decrease soil erosion in their fields, all while cutting the labor, equipment and fuel costs associated with tillage operations. Minimizing soil disturbance can also help to keep carbon in the soil, instead of gassing off or washing away.
Soil armor (or soil cover) is an excellent method for improving soil health. This soil cover provides many benefits, including:
Erosion control
Reduced moisture evaporation
More moderate soil temperatures
Reduced compaction due to rainfall
Weed suppression
Animals can play an important part in the overall health of the agricultural ecosystem. When livestock are used to enhance soil health, balance is key.
A few things to keep in mind:
Through fall and winter grazing, they convert high carbon annual crop residue to low carbon organic material.
If they’re in the field and off the feedlot, we reduce transport or feed and waste by allowing them to recycle nutrients and carbon, all in the same location.
Grazing helps manage weeds pressure and possibly decrease herbicide usage. (Be sure to manage possible challenges associated with animal confinement, such as runoff.)
Before modern agriculture, much of the Corn Belt and prairies were populated with native plants that utilized and introduced resources in a variety of ways — high water users, low water users, tap root, fibrous root, high carbon crops, low carbon crops, legumes and non-legumes — which helped enhance the biodiversity of the soil.
With an annual cropping system, the soil is only inhabited by one variety at a time. By developing a diverse crop rotation, we can improve the soil nutrient cycle as well as water infiltration.
Find soil prebiotics, soil probiotics, carbon sources and other key products to help keep your soil healthy, along with crop nutrition and crop protection supplies, from FBN Direct. With an easy online shopping experience, price transparency, helpful educational resources and fast, direct-to-farm shipping, FBN® is here to help.
Sources: https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/nrcs/main/nd/soils/health/ https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/nrcs142p2_052820.pdf
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