Soil Health &

The Five Principles

Importance of Soil

• Provides nutrients

• Recycles/filters water

• Stores water

• Soil is the basis of life on Earth….why?

– Plants get nutrients from soil and plants provide glucose and oxygen

Soil, Water, and Plants

• Plant growth depends on

– Soil—mechanical and nutrient support

– Water—essential for plant life processes

Rain is Precious: Factors Affecting the Fate of Rainfall

Many factors determine what happens to the rainfall received. Some of the primary factors include:

• type, quantity, and density of vegetative cover;

• storm intensity and duration;

• soil moisture prior to the storm event;

• soil water holding capacity;

• and slope.

These factors affect how much evaporates, infiltrates, moves through vegetation, and the amount and velocity of overland flow which may erode the soil surface and enter the stream.

Physical Characteristics of Soil

• Composition

– Mineral matter, organic matter, and pores

• Texture

– Sand, silt, and clay

• Structure

– Platy, prismatic, columnar, blocky, and granular

• Bulk density and porosity

– Weight/volume

– Volume of pores

Soil Composition

• Mineral Matter—small particles of sand, silt, and clay

• Organic Matter—decaying plant and animals

• Pores—store air and water

Soil Texture

Clay has the most influence on water-holding capacity

Water-holding capacity is the amount of water that a Given soil can hold for crop use

Soil Structure Granular

Blocky

Prismatic

Columnar

Platy

Granular structure is characterized by loosely packed, crumbly soil aggregates and an interconnected network of macropores that allow rapid infiltration and promote biological productivity.

Bulk Density and Porosity

Soil-Water Interactions

• Soil Water Content

• How Soil Holds Water

• Soil Water Tension

Soil Water Content • Saturation—pore spaces are filled with water, which

allows percolation to occur

• Field Capacity—amount of water left in the soil after percolation has occurred

• Wilting Point—soil water content at which the potential of the plant to absorb water is balanced by the water potential of the soil

How Soil Holds Water

• Adsorption—water stored as thin film on individual soil particles

– Most important factor influencing the leachability of herbicides in the soil

• Capillary Storage—water stored in pores

Soil Water Tension/Potential

• For water to move from the soil, to roots, to stems, to leaves, to air, the water potential must always be decreasing.

Water Potential

A negative chemical potential gradient drives transport of water from soil to the atmosphere

Use of Water by Plants

• Plant water need

• Plant root depth

• Soil and water quality

Plant water need

• Different water needs at different stages

• More water needed at reproductive stage

• For perennial plants like alfalfa, crop water use drops sharply with each cutting and slowly increases until the next cutting.

Plant root depth

Which side of the fence would you like to be on?

Plants will extract about 70% of their water from the top half of their total root penetration, But reliance on utilization of deeper water will reduce optimum plant growth

How Grazing Affects Root Growth

Percent leaf volume removed:

Percent root growth stoppage:

10% 0%

20% 0%

30% 0%

40% 0%

50% 2-4%

60% 50%

70% 78%

80% 100%

90% 100%

Water and Soil Quality

• Water is second only to oxygen as an essential nutrient to optimize animal gain, milk production, and reproduction

• Irrigation water with high soluble salt content is not as available to the plant

• Of course healthy soils are important……this is a HEALTHY SOILS WORKSHOP!

What is Soil Health?

• “The continued capacity of the soil to function as a vital living ecosystem that sustains plants, animals, and humans.” Soil Renaissance

• Soil Health provides nutrients and water for crops, creates productive grazing lands, and is the foundation for a healthy Ecosystem

• B. Gates $ can buy infinite amounts of fertilizer, 300 h.p. tractors, and equipment ½ mile wide, but can he buy soil health? Nope.

Introduction • The most limiting factor in the Soils of our area is

Water—(Infiltration and storage)

• We can change this!

• Organic Matter* Water Holding Capacity

• Better Soil Structure = Better Water Capacity

• So how do we improve Soil Health?

* 1% OM in 6 inches of soil can hold up to 19,000 gallons of water.

Soil Microbes and Nutrient Recycling

• There are more microbes in a teaspoon of soil than there are people on the earth.

• Mycorrhizal fungi—help in the transport of nutrients and water to the plant

• Protozoa and nematodes consume other microbes (e.g. bacteria) and release nitrogen into the soilfungiplants.

Organic Matter Decomposition

• Provides energy for growth

• Supply carbon for cell formation

• SOM is composed of:

– “Living” (microorganisms)

– “Dead” (fresh residues)

– “Very Dead” (humus)

Soil humus is an important reservoir of nitrogen, phosphorus, and sulfur

Organic Matter Decomposition

The Process

Economics of SOM

$680 value for each 1% SOM based on economic values for commercial fertilizers

Ohio State Extension 2010

SOM should be considered like an investment in a CD, where the release of nutrients is like interest earned

The Five

5 Principles to Improve Soil Health

1. Armor the Soil

2. Minimize Disturbance

3. Plant Diversity (4 Crop Types)

4. Keep a Living Root Year Round

5. Livestock Integration

Armor-What is it? •Physical Protection covering the Soil Surface

•Crop Residue •Living Plants

Yes Not so much

Armor-Why is it important?

• Prevents Erosion

• Lowers Soil Temperatures

• Limits Water Loss from Evaporation

• Reduces Hoof-Action Compaction

• Reduces Equipment Compaction

• Carbon to build Organic Mater

• Food for Microbes

• Fuels the Nutrient Cycle

Armor Continued

Have you seen Pastureland or Rangeland that lacked Armor??

Minimizing Disturbance-What is it?

• Goal is to Minimize the Physical, Chemical, or Biological disturbance of the Soil.

• Examples of Disturbances:

Physical Chemical Biological

Tillage Fertilizing Herbicides/ Pesticides

Overgrazing Irrigating (low quality water)

Fungicides

Compacting Pesticides Overgrazing

Min. Disturbance-Why is it important?

• Healthy Soils have “good” structure, balanced fungal/bacteria populations, plentiful earthworms, and organic matter.

Large Blocks

Small Blocks Crumb!

Min. Disturbance-Why is it important?

• Example: Tillage destroys soil structure, creates plow pans, alters fungal/bacteria ratio, kills earthworms, and “burns-up” organic matter.

– Creates a compacted plow-pan

– Impairs Water Cycle and Nutrient Cycle

Min. Disturbance Continued

• Tillage is like adding Oxygen to a Fire-The Microbes burn-up Organic Matter fast n’ hot!

Device that measures CO2 given off by microbial activity.

Plant Diversity-What is it? • 4 Components to Plant Diversity

– Warm Season Grasses

– Warm Season Broadleaves

– Cool Season Grasses

– Cool Season Broadleaves

Warm Season Grasses

• Little & Big Bluestem

• Indiangrass

• Switchgrass

• Sideoats grama

Warm Season Broadleaves

• Lespedeza

• Buttonweed

• Bundleflower

• Sunflower

Cool Season Grasses

• Ryegrass

• Texas Wintergrass

• Wheat

• Fescue

Cool Season Broadleaves

• Chickweed

• Turnips

• Clover

• Mustard

Plant Diversity-Why is it important?

• Plants attract Microbiology with root exudates – Legumes/Rhizobium, Big Bluestem/Mycorrhizae

• Each plant species exude diff. root exudates – Attracts a “ga-jillion” types of microbes

• Increased Microbiology=Increased Soil Health

• Glomalin is produced 24/7, 365 (binds mineral particles together and potential method of carbon sequestration)

• Cover Crop Cocktails fill gaps in Crop Rotations and gaps in all Plant Communities.

Living Root Year Round-What is it?

• Healthy Soils need living plants with Actively growing roots 365 days a year.

Nodulated Legume roots to fix Nitrogen

Fibrous Grass roots to build Structure

Brassica Tap roots to increase Porosity

Living Root Year Round-Why is it important?

• Each part of the root exude different exudates. Different plants give off different exudates.

• Diverse amounts of actively growing roots foster diverse Microbiology year round. – As microbes grow and die they release nutrients.

– Therefore, the nutrient cycle is working year round!

• Tap roots and fibrous roots each contribute to good soil structure in their own way.

Livestock Integration-What is it?

• Livestock Integration is the use of Livestock (Horses, goats, sheep, hogs, chickens, ducks, turkeys, (Buffalo, llamas, and even cattle?)) to accomplish Specific Objectives.

– Assist with the Termination of a Cover Crop

– Stomp-in plant material

– Add Biological Diversity

– Manage Plant Communities

Livestock Integration-Why is it important? Biology!

Biology (milk foam)

Biology (feces/urine)

Biology (shed hair)

75 pounds covered in Biology

Biology (saliva)

Biology transfer system

Soil Health Assessment

Grazing management, soil health, and infiltration rates

After the Assessment is complete….

What’s the next step??

Each operation will have a different “prescription” for improving Soil Health.

Step 1: Find the Indicator with the lowest score.

Step 2: Address that Indicator using the 5 Principles, in their respective order.

(Don’t start with number 5 and work backwards, for example)

Indicator-Principle Relationship INDICATOR GUIDING PRINCIPLES

Soil Disturbance Armor, Min disturbance

Surface Cover Armor, Min disturbance, Living root

Soil Erosion Armor, Min disturbance

Plant Diversity Crop diversity

Plant Health Min disturbance, Crop diversity,

Water Infiltration Armor, Min disturbance, Crop diversity, Living root

Soil Temperature Armor, Living root

Organic Matter Armor, Min disturbance, Crop diversity, Living root

Soil Structure Armor, Min disturbance, Crop diversity, Living root

Soil Compaction Armor, Min disturbance, Crop diversity, Living root

Root Growth/Abundance

Armor, Min disturbance, Crop diversity, Living root

Soil Biodiversity Armor, Min disturbance, Crop diversity, Living root

Livestock Integration Livestock

Livestock can influence all of these.

We have to ask the right question,

to get the right answer.

Armor

• Why is there no Armor?

– Grazed too short?

– Hayed too short?

– Not enough biomass produced?

– Not enough crop residue?

– Residue tilled under?

– Microbes ate it?

– No living plants?

Minimized Disturbance

• What’s the Disturbance?

– Tillage?

– Heavy vehicle or animal traffic?

– Incorporated fertilizer?

– Hay cutter in the dirt?

– Horses pulling up plants by the roots?

Plant Diversity

• Why is there no Plant Diversity?

– Cash crop/fallow rotation?

– Monoculture Hayland?

– Low successional Rangeland?

– No market for cool season broadleaf?

– It’s been a drought, and plants have died?

Living Root Year Round

• Why is there no Living Root year round?

– Cash crop/fallow rotation?

– No cool season broadleaf on Rangeland?

– No cool season plants in summer grass Hayland?

– It’s a hot, dry summer, and the plants all died?

Livestock Integration

• Where’s the Livestock?

– Cropland has no fences or water?

– Rangeland “protected” from grazing?

– Livestock grazing year round, with no rotation?

– I’ll buy some next year when they’re cheaper.

– I’m overgrazing because it hasn’t rained…

Other Questions

• How long will it take before I can quit using fertilizers?

• How long will it take before Big Bluestem will established in this field?

• Will I ever get this caliche hill to take-in water?

• Will the questions ever stop??

Answers!

• It’s called speeding up Biological Time.

• Mother Nature works at her own pace, but we can encourage her by giving her what she wants. Namely:

– Armor

– Minimizing Disturbance

– Plant Diversity

– Keep a Living Root Year Round

– Livestock Integration

Conclusion

• With these 5 Principles we can restore the land back to what it was before intensive Ag practices drained it.

• Have you ever wondered what it was like to farm the virgin prairie? Or graze cattle on vegetation as nutritious as the buffalo enjoyed?

Conclusion

Building Soil Health may seem like an impossible task, but we have the tools to do it.