The longer days and the warmer weather are welcome signs that spring has arrived. As we pull ourselves out of winter hibernation, signs of life are everywhere around us. It’s a time of year when early morning preparations are starting in anticipation of what’s to come. At the top of the list: seed, fertilizer, and lime need to be ordered, machinery to be maintained and decisions to be made regarding which field gets what. However, increased prices in many of these inputs are forcing farmers to pause for a minute and consider alternatives to the normal routine. Improving soil health has been offered as one of these alternatives. Producers and researchers are attempting to measure the value of soil health and decipher the benefits of a healthy soil in achieving agronomic goals. However, this is difficult to do because soil health encompasses complex and integrated biological, chemical and physical processes and because there is often inadequate knowledge of these processes.
If a farmer is asked to define soil health, invariably the definition includes biological life, soil organic matter, fertility and adequate moisture to start. They realize that the definition extends beyond fertilizer recommendations and chemical applications. It encompasses more than just plant quality and yield. Yet still, management practices including material and energy inputs are solely focused on plant production, where as the soil itself is simply treated as a physical support for the growth of plants and the inherent sustainable productivity has been disregarded. So, it appears there is a widening gap between intuitive farmer knowledge and the soil management practices that are often employed on farm. As a result, the role of intuitive soil management practices has been receiving more recognition as a valuable tool in fostering the sustainability of agricultural systems. Intuitive soil fertility management and soil conservation practices have evolved, been adopted and modified by farmers based on their experience, observations and their own informal on-farm experiments.
In attempt to narrow this gap, programs across the globe are being developed where farmers are able to evaluate soil health simply using their own senses. Using a set of readily measured indicators, farmers are able to gain clues about how their soils are functioning. Although these programs are all slightly different from one another, they all have a soil scorecard in common. A producer can evaluate soil health on their farm through a series of diagnostic exercises. These evaluations have proven to be a good indicator of soil status. In fact, studies have shown that the farmer sensory evaluation matches very closely with laboratory tests evaluating the same soil qualities. Of course, laboratory soil tests are still a useful tool but a sensory approach to soil management may arguable be the most sophisticated tool available to producers.
So, this spring, while you’re getting ready to gear up for another season, consider for a moment what effect your own management practices may have on the overall health of your soils and take a spade out to the field with you on occasion to check the pulse of what’s happening underground. You’ll be surprised at how much information can be gathered from simply taking the time to look. At the very least, questioning the status of your soils may be the first step in making changes to benefit the health of you soils and in turn productivity of your farm.
Watch for upcoming field tours and presentations designed to allow you to access the quality of your own soil. If you have any questions regarding soil health or would be interested in upcoming workshops please call or email me at AgraPoint; a.sangster@agrapoint.ca or (902) 896-7299.
