Soil health report: FDC085

Authors: Johnson, Jane; Jin, Virginia; Lehman, R - Michael; Mikha, Maysoon; Li, Lidong; Kettler, Timothy; Karlen, Douglas

Submitted to: Extension Reports
Publication Type: Other
Publication Acceptance Date: 9/30/2021
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary: The USDA-ARS conducted on-farm research funded by the USDOE to understand how land use and conservation management affect soil health. The secondary purpose was to determine if soil health benefits were greater when conservation management was applied to very environmentally sensitive soils (steeper slopes) compared to less sensitive soils (lower slopes). We collected soils from 38 fields across 18 private farms in central Iowa to compare soil properties within Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) with those in neighboring fields under business-as-usual (BAU) management. We collected samples from two different slope classes (i.e., lower vs. higher slope) in each field to evaluate if CRP was more beneficial for environmentally sensitive sites (i.e., higher slope). Soil samples were sent to different USDA-Agricultural Research Service laboratories where they were analyzed for several physical, chemical, and biological properties. This report includes a short description for each analysis and provides landowner-specific assessments for standard soil-test data, soil health, soil erosion risk, and soil biology for the surface 0 to 6 inches of soil. Additional soils data for soil depths of 6 to 48 inches are reported in the Supplementary Information section at the end of the report.

Technical Abstract: The USDA-ARS conducted on-farm research funded by the USDOE to understand how land use and conservation management affect soil health. The secondary purpose was to determine if soil health benefits were greater when conservation management was applied to very environmentally sensitive soils (steeper slopes) compared to less sensitive soils (lower slopes). We collected soils from 38 fields across 18 private farms in central Iowa to compare soil properties within Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) with those in neighboring fields under business-as-usual (BAU) management. We collected samples from two different slope classes (i.e., lower vs. higher slope) in each field to evaluate if CRP was more beneficial for environmentally sensitive sites (i.e., higher slope). Soil samples were sent to different USDA-Agricultural Research Service laboratories where they were analyzed for several physical, chemical, and biological properties. This report includes a short description for each analysis and provides landowner-specific assessments for standard soil-test data, soil health, soil erosion risk, and soil biology for the surface 0 to 6 inches of soil. Additional soils data for soil depths of 6 to 48 inches are reported in the Supplementary Information section at the end of the report.