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Soil health systems improve spring field access and resilience, study shows
Research at the University of Minnesota is finding farmers implementing soil health principles can start spring field management sooner than their conventional counterparts.
Extension soil health specialist Anna Cates says practices like reduced tillage create better physical structure for soil to manage water.
“We were able to show that our soil health systems held more water in those drought years while we measured things, so that’s resilient to a low-water situation,” she shares. “And then we were able to show that their structure was a little bit more resilient right after they got some rain.”
She says while some tillage can lead to earlier fieldwork during years with average soil conditions, those fields can’t handle extreme weather.
“That shows up nationally if you look at crop insurance trends,” she adds. “Counties that have more cover crops and less tillage have fewer crop insurance claims. In disasters, those practices almost always help.”
Farmers in the study with the soil health practices said they believed switching from conventional management allowed for earlier spring fieldwork.
Cates says because farmers had more control over the timing of field work, they also reported the change improved their quality of life, lowered stress and financial worry, and created more time with family.
Cates presented results to kick off this year’s Michigan State University Extension Field Crop’s Virtual Breakfast Series.
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Thanks Stephanie for your comment! You can view the research as part of the MSU Virtual Breakfast linked in the story: https://www.canr.msu.edu/videos/spring-field-management
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Great news! Can someone post a link to the research page?