Explore the results from the first of two major soil health research studies from major US universities that will impact soil health recommendations.

Soil health is “a largely unexplored area of agriculture,” according to a Growing Produce article, but there is a lot of research currently underway. According to the article, you should expect to “see a lot of new research on soil health” in the next few years. Two soil health research studies that will act as “foundational studies” in the coming years come from Cornell University and The Ohio State University. See the details below.

Soil Health Research Studies

The first of the two soil health research studies came from Cornell University, published in September 2021, and it looked at the impact the type of crop has on soil health. The study included collecting 1,750 soil samples from New York State, cataloging the basic soil texture (coarse, loam, silt loam, and fine), identifying the crops being grown where the sample was taken, and taking measurements on several health indicators in order to make connections between soil health and crops grown. Insights from the research, according to the article, include:

  • “Both cropping systems and soil texture affect overall soil health.”
  • “Soil texture had a bigger impact on Available water capacity (AWC) than the cropping system.”
  • “Cropping systems impacts soil respiration, soil protein, and Wet aggregate stability (WAS) more than soil texture.”
  • “Texture and crops equally affect Permanganate-oxidizable carbon (POXC).”
  • “The effects of cropping systems are presumably linked to differences in the carbon and nutrient balances and the amount of soil disturbance through tillage.”
  • “Pasture and mixed vegetable systems tended to have the highest biological and physical soil health, followed by dairy crop systems.”
  • “Annual grain and processing vegetable cropping systems tended to have the lowest soil health.”

Griffin Fertilizer is committed to helping both growers and ranchers make sound agronomic and economic decisions in order to maximize the health of their grove and pasture. As a full-service custom dry & liquid fertilizer blender and crop protection product distributor, we will continue our mission to further advance Florida agriculture. For questions or concerns about your farm or pasture, contact us and one of our team will be in touch.