Soil Health
What is soil health and why are we concerned?
Soil is a living, vital ecosystem. It is a precious resource that supports life - plant, animal, human - and plays an important role for our water quality and food production, so it is important to keep our soil healthy. ​
Soil health is about how well the soil can sustain those lives. When determining soil health, we look at three aspects of the soil: physical, biological, and chemical (see diagram). These three are overlapping, each effecting the other. For example, if your soil is compacted (physical), there will be less pore space and organisms will struggle to survive. Soil Food Web
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When each of these is functioning well, we have healthy soil. ​​
Unfortunately, humans have a big impact on soil health.
Agriculture, landscaping, paved surfaces, and buildings all disturb the soil, causing compaction, runoff and erosion, and more issues. And all of these negatively effect plant growth.
Fortunately, we have conservation practices work to preserve the integrity of the soil and to improve the soil to provide resiliency. There are a number of practices we can utilize that will play an important role in protecting this natural resource, whether we are talking about your front yard, or your acres of cropland.
Source: NRCS Soil Health
These practices are based on four principles:
Minimize disturbance
​Disturb the soil as little as possible. How often is the soil disturbed, and how aggressively? Disturbances can be physical, chemical, or biological.
Maximize soil cover
Keep the soil covered as much as possible. Soil covers include a living plant canopy (a growing crop or cover crop) and mulch (like straw, compost, decomposed bark mulch).​
Maximize living roots
Living plants go beyond cover. Keep plants growing through the year to reduce the time the time the beds are bare. Plant roots feed soil life and build organic matter.​
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Maximize biodiversity
Use diverse crops, crop rotation, and cover crops for plant variety. Feed diverse soil microbes and create habitat for and with native and beneficial plants and insects.
2024 St. Joseph SWCD Demo: The slake test demonstrates the stability of the soil. Well-structured soil can better filter and store water, while unhealthy soil breaks apart.​
We all have the ability to positively impact our soil and water. If you're farming, managing soil health also increases crop productivity and profitability. Agricultural conservation practices include no-till/reduced till, cover crops, rotational grazing, and diversified crop rotation. These can be used on large- or small-scale farms. Read more on our Agriculture or Urban Agriculture pages.
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If you're in town, backyard conservation practices include composting and mulching. Read more on our Backyard Conservation page. Also read about water quality and stormwater practices.
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Learning about your soil is important when choosing practices to improve it. We offer free technical assistance. Contact us to see talk about soil health assessments for your farm!
This bit of information is just the tip of the iceburg when it comes to soils and soil health! There is a wealth of information out there.
Here are some of great resources:
Healthy Soils & Water | Indiana Clear Choices Clean Water
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NRCS Unlock the Secrets in the Soil video series
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We have also compiled a list of other valuable resources, including information on labs for soil testing and the Web Soil Survey. Soil Resources
Soil Health Testing in St. Joseph County