Soil Health

The Hope in Healthy Soil

1. Minimize soil disturbance. The soil’s natural biological cycles and soil structure can be disrupted through tillage, chemical disturbance or improper livestock grazing. By reducing or eliminating these activities, farmers will benefit from better plant growth, reduced soil erosion, increased profit margins and better wildlife habitat. Full screen view
2. Energize with diversity. Biodiversity, growing more plants in rotation, increases the success of most agricultural systems. Diversity above ground improves diversity below ground, which provides an ideal habitat for the billions of micro-organisms that perform essential soil ecosystem functions like helping make nutrients available to plants. Full screen view
3. Keep the soil covered. Using cover crops helps restore soil health, protects against soil erosion and groundwater leaching, and provides livestock feed and wildlife habitat. In addition, cover crops protect the soil ecosystem from temperature extremes and improve plant health. Full screen view
4. Maximize living roots. Year-round, living roots are essential to provide the food and habitat for soil micro-organisms. These roots also create pores and channels in the soil that provide oxygen and increase water infiltration capacity — which helps makes cropland more resilient to weather extremes like droughts and floods. Full screen view