Guidelines for Soil Quality Assessment in Conservation Planning

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Indicator Table Indicator Poor Medium Good Earthworms 0-1 worms in shovelful of top foot of soil. No casts or holes. 2-10 in shovelful. Few casts, holes, or worms. 10+ in top foot of soil. Lots of casts and holes in tilled clods. Birds behind tillage. Organic Matter Color Topsoil color similar to subsoil color. Surface color closer to subsoil color. Topsoil clearly defined, darker than subsoil. Organic Matter No visible residue or roots Some residue Noticeable roots and residue Roots/Residue Subsurface Compaction Soil Tilth Mellowness Friability Erosion Wire breaks or bends when inserting flag. Looks dead. Like brick or concrete, cloddy. Either blows apart or hard to pull drill through. Large gullies over 2 inches deep joined to others, thin or no topsoil, rapid run-off the color of soil. few roots Have to push hard, need fist to push flag in. Somewhat cloddy, balls up, rough pulling seedbed. Few rills or gullies, gullies up to two inches deep. Some swift runoff, colored water. Water runs out after a Flag goes in easily with fingers to twice the depth of plow layer. Soil crumbles well, can slice through, like cutting butter. Spongy when you walk on it. No gullies or rills, clear or no runoff. Water Holding Capacity Plant stress two days after a good rain. week or so. Holds water for a long period of time without puddling. Drainage, Water lays for a long time, Water lays for short No ponding, no runoff, water Infiltration evaporates more than period of time, moves through soil steadily. drains, always very wet eventually drains. Soil not too wet, not too dry. ground. Crop Condition Problem growing throughout Fair growth, spots in Normal healthy dark green (How well it season, poor growth, yellow field different, color, excellent growth all grows) or purple color. medium green color. season, across field. pH Hard to correct for desired crop. Easily correctable. Proper pH for crop. Nutrient Soil tests dropping with Little change or slow Soil tests trending up in Holding more fertilizer applied down trend. relation to fertilizer applied Capacity than crops used. and crop harvested. 2
Field Notes/Inputs Farm I.D. Field I.D. Date Crop Acres Inputs Type Quanitity Price Fertilizer Lime Manure Cover Crops Pesticides Other Equipment Used Problems, Comments, Weather Conditions Amount Units Moisture Price Yields 3
Page 1: Guidelines for Soil Quality Assessm
Page 4 and 5: ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The Natural Resourc
Page 6 and 7: OVERVIEW This document provides sug
Page 8 and 9: WHAT IS SOIL QUALITY? Soil quality
Page 10 and 11: model familiar to farmers will prom
Page 12 and 13: Table 1. Example of a Minimum Data
Page 14 and 15: USING Part III-RESOURCES WITH PART
Page 16 and 17: 3. INVENTORY RESOURCES—ASSESSING
Page 18 and 19: provide additional suggestions to e
Page 20 and 21: yield limiting in high levels. Most
Page 22 and 23: 4. ANALYZE RESOURCE DATA—EVALUATI
Page 24 and 25: 5. FORMULATE ALTERNATIVES—IMPLEME
Page 27 and 28: PART III RESOURCES 22
Page 29 and 30: Soil Quality Assessment Field Recor
Page 35 and 36: Suggested Management Solutions to S
Page 37 and 38: Problem: Organic matter/ residue In
Page 39 and 40: (15-30 min.) Results: 2-3 weeks bio
Page 41 and 42: Soil Aggregates Soil surface is har
Page 43 and 44: INDICATORS BEST TIME FOR ASSESSMENT
Page 45: Appendix A—Example of A Farmer De

Guidelines for Soil Quality Assessment in Conservation Planning

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