The modern soil health (SH) movement has its roots in the oil embargo of 1973 that spurred a renewed interest in investigating how the soil microbial population could be used to replenish nitrogen (N) available from soil, due to huge increases in the price of N fertilizers. Soon after, there was a push to implement minimum and no-till conservation practices on the land to reduce anthropogenic erosion. In the 1980s, a consortium of public and private entities provided information to land managers on the best ways to implement these new practices. Concurrently, leading experts in soil quality were developing definitions and recommended data to characterize soil quality as affected by human management (Doran et al. 1994, Doran and Jones 1996).
While soil microbial methodologies were relatively primitive at the time, soil biology was always an integral part of the scientific effort to improve the understanding and measurement of soil characteristics. Eventually, as the capacity to study soil biology improved, discussion of soil quality was replaced by a discussion of soil health as a means of communicating the importance of understanding and managing the soil as a living, breathing ecosystem. NRCS has defined soil health as “the capacity of the soil to function as a vital living ecosystem that supports plants, animals, and humans.”
The above paragraph is a cut/paste piece from the INTRODUCTION to the document: Soil Health Technical Note No. SH-XX. --This is a draft version in the Federal Register relating to Soil Health Standard Indicators and Laboratory Procedures, by USDA. Public comment period is about to close and the draft version will be edited and a final version will likely be posted sometime in 2019.
When I came across this document it helped reduce my skepticism about Elaine Ingham's statement that the first comprehensive book on soil microbiology was published in 1985. It seemed unreal to me that there was so little known about our soil that recent. I was well into my farming career by that time and didn't know I was so ignorant. Now it seems that the more I learn, the less I know.
I remember the oil embargo of 73. It was one of those experiences that produced uncertainty, and hence, was a bit scary. I remember visiting relatives in Seattle and hunting for a gas station that advertised "Have Gas", and waiting in line a block long, hoping to get a tank full. Sometimes you were limited to 5 gallons per purchase. Farm fuel suppliers were put on allotments. Harvest started early that year and our local fuel supplier was running low on his allotment for August. He kept all the machines running that last couple of days in August by daily going from field to field and delivering directly into the combine only enough for most of that days run. September 1st came with a new allotment of fuel and everything was fine after that. We mostly live with our head in a cloud and don't realize how vulnerable we are to societies infrastructure. Loss of fuel or the electrical grid are two examples of many issues that would turn civil to uncivil quickly.
The above paragraph is a cut/paste piece from the INTRODUCTION to the document: Soil Health Technical Note No. SH-XX. --This is a draft version in the Federal Register relating to Soil Health Standard Indicators and Laboratory Procedures, by USDA. Public comment period is about to close and the draft version will be edited and a final version will likely be posted sometime in 2019.
When I came across this document it helped reduce my skepticism about Elaine Ingham's statement that the first comprehensive book on soil microbiology was published in 1985. It seemed unreal to me that there was so little known about our soil that recent. I was well into my farming career by that time and didn't know I was so ignorant. Now it seems that the more I learn, the less I know.
I remember the oil embargo of 73. It was one of those experiences that produced uncertainty, and hence, was a bit scary. I remember visiting relatives in Seattle and hunting for a gas station that advertised "Have Gas", and waiting in line a block long, hoping to get a tank full. Sometimes you were limited to 5 gallons per purchase. Farm fuel suppliers were put on allotments. Harvest started early that year and our local fuel supplier was running low on his allotment for August. He kept all the machines running that last couple of days in August by daily going from field to field and delivering directly into the combine only enough for most of that days run. September 1st came with a new allotment of fuel and everything was fine after that. We mostly live with our head in a cloud and don't realize how vulnerable we are to societies infrastructure. Loss of fuel or the electrical grid are two examples of many issues that would turn civil to uncivil quickly.
Appreciate your cover crop update, the topic fascinates me and I hope you can figure out a fit into the dryland system. If you have time this winter how about a 2018 crops and things that worked/didn't work?
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