Soil Fertility Management SBC YFC, 2013 Zach Wolf, Locusts on

SOIL FE
Soil Fertility Management
SBC YFC, 2013
Zach Wolf, Locusts on
Hudson
zpw1@caa.columbia.edu
Overview
—  Systems Approach
—  Gathering Background Information
—  Management Basics
—  2nd Tier Management
—  Soil Tests
—  Mineral Balance
—  Managing Cover Crops
—  Compost
—  Qualitative Approaches
The creation of our planet in 6 days, from David Brower
Sunday
• Earth is Born
Monday
• Cooling
• Precipitation
Tuesday
• Bacteria Enter
Wednesday
• Earth Systems
Evolve
Thursday
Friday
• Self regulating
planetary
system
Takeaway:
1) Earth systems and Biology co-evolved
-Bacteria and Fungi are foundational for terrestrial organisms
2) Life transitioned to terrestrial ecosystems from marine ones
-Distribution of mineral resources is limited by geology
-Uptake through trophic levels in limited by soil biology
3) The novelty of our species, agriculture and science
-Decision Making: Science, tradition, intuition
Saturday
• Plants, Animals,
Fungi
• Humans 11 sec
before midnight
• Agriculture 2/3
sec
• Science 1/1000
sec
Epistemology of Soil Fertility
—  Linear Approach
¡  Mechanistic
Experience/
Tradition
Reductionist
¡  Parts
¡ 
—  Systems Approach
Complex
¡  Interlinked through
Feedback Mechanisms
¡  Holistic thinking
¡ 
Science/
Empiricism
Intuition/
Sensing
÷  Need
To Utilize All Three
Aspects
Where to Start?
—  Web Soil Survey, http://websoilsurvey.sc.egov.usda.gov/
App/HomePage.htm
—  Find and Research Soil Type
—  Formation/ Regional Geology
—  Landuse History
¡ 
Potential Contamination
—  Type and Quality of Vegetation
—  Water Holding Capacity/Drainage
—  Crop Performance
¡ 
¡ 
¡ 
¡ 
¡ 
Yield
Pest/Disease Pressure
Growth Rate
Growth Rate Through Cool Weather
Deficiency Symptoms
Approach
—  Basics
¡  Air
¡  Water
¡  Temperature
¡  pH
—  Second Stage
¡  Soil Minerals
¡  Organic Matter
¡  Cropping System (Finding Symbiosis)
¡  Tillage
Soil pH
Minerals and Soil Testing
—  Levels of Availability
¡  Mineral Reserve
¡  Colloid
¡  Solution
¡  Tissue
—  CEC…in context
—  BSR…In context
¡  Ca:Mg:K:Na = 68:12:5:3
—  P=K
—  S= ½ P
—  Mn = 1/3 Fe
—  Zn = 1/10 P
—  Cu = ½ Zn
—  B = 1/1000 Ca
—  Trace minerals <1-2 ppm
Soil Test Analysis
cec Cation lbs/acre/1cec % saturation, optimal lbs optimal 10 Ca 400 0.68 2720 10 Mg 240 0.12 288 10 K 780 0.035 273 10 Na 460 0.025 115 10 H 20 0.1 20 Anion 0.96 P equal to K (Phosphate:Potash=2:1) 273 S 1/2 p (<600 -1200lbs) 136.5 Cl 1x, 2x Na 115 Minor nutrients Fe 1/3 - 1/2 P (200-600lbs) 91 Mn 1/3 -1/2 Fe 30.333333 Zn 1/10 P (<100lbs) 27.3 Cu 1/2 Zn 13.65 B 1/1000 Ca (<8lbs) 2.72 Trace nutrients Cr trace, <2-4lbs Co trace, <2-4lbs I trace, <2-4lbs Mo trace, <2-4lbs Se trace, <2-4lbs Sn trace, <2-4lbs V trace, <2-4lbs Ni trace, <2-4lbs Fe trace, <2-4lbs Si trace, <2-4lbs Field Old Post
South Nutrient (lbs/ Crop
Test
Compost (10
acre) Demand Results Needed ton/acre) N P K Ca Mg S Zn Cu B 130 54 218 78 21 29 6.1 2.5 1.4 160.8 62 -144 -246 -47 -97 2.88 1.78 0.52 -30.8 -8 361.76 324 68 126 3.22 0.72 0.88 80 26 50 150 46 16 1 0.5 0.16 Monitor Soil Testing Over Time
2500
2000
Lbs./Acre
1500
1000
500
Fall13'
Summer13'
Spring13'
Summer12'
Spring12'
0
Ca
Mg
Nutrient
K
Na
S
P
ENR
Plant and Soil = One System
—  Soil is the digestive system for the plant
—  Plant acts as a solar receptor for soil
biology
—  20-80% of photosynthates delivered to
soil system through exudates
—  Plant as important source of C for soil
food web
—  Soil food web facilitates the movement
of minerals to the plant
Mycorrhizal Fungi Symbiosis
—  Reduce Tillage
—  Limit P-inputs
—  Inoculate Soil
—  Cover Crops
Avoid bare fallow
—  Rotations
¡  Based on patterns of succession
¡ 
Applying Ecological Theory
1) Functional Diversity
¡ 
¡ 
¡ 
Enhances Ecosystem Functions
* Functional Traits, not simply
species or varietal diversity
÷  Rooting depth, root mass,
diseas/pest resistance, etc.
Diversity Measured over time
2) Disturbance Regimes
¡ 
Tillage
÷  Frequency
÷  Intensity
3) Successional Pattern
Rotate crops in sequence
to build fungal symbiosis and
complexity
•  Year 1
Brassicaceae, Chenopodiaceae
Compositae, Apiaceae, Cucurbitaceae
•  Year 2
Poaceae, Solanaceae, Allium
Successional Sequence, from
Soil Food Web
Early
Bare Parent
Material
Bacteria
Early
Annuals
Mid-grass,
veggies
Pasture,
Row Crops
Bushes
Late
Deciduous
Forest
Old-growth
Forest
Fungi
• Year 3
Cover Crops Alleys
Reduced Tillage
baby greens
carrot
-The cycles in nature, that includes decay and decomposition of organic matte
beans
corn,
sweet
-The creation and maintenance of soils.
cucumbers
garlic
-The nutritional value of cultivated plants.
radish
lettuce
spinach
melons
According to Elaine Ingham when virgin prairie land, the archetype for a healthy soil
onion
is plowed, no pesticides or squashes
fertilizers are needed for the first 5 to
15 years. I hav
peppers
experience with virgin land but we all recognize that disease-suppressive bact
protozoa, and nematodes can protect plants from infection, whiletomatoes
the natural nutrient
nitrogen retention provides the crops with their nutritional needs. By exposing the
Figure 1.the
Timing
ofofnitrogen
mineralization
elements, we diminish
number
beneficial
organisms and from
burn up the organic ma
no new organic
matter
is returned,
we notcrop
onlyresidue,
stop feeding
the beneficial organism
soil
organic
matter, cover
and organic
deteriorate thefertilizer
characteristics
of the
This process
is not any different from
in relation
to soil.
crop nitrogen
uptake.
pasture land. Overgrazing reduces diversity and population of grasses when
and cloth
pastures just as working the land reduces the microbial population of the soil. A r
Crop Demand
20:1 (e.g
these organisms eventually results in disease problems. The challenge of organic f
Fertilizer
maintain a balance between what is taken from the land and what is returnedmustard
to the
soilredu
in o
shortcuts like the use of artificialmineralization
fertilizer or pesticides that cause even greater
crop
organism. According toCover
Elaine,
one teaspoon
of healthy soil should containhigh
about
nit
Cover crop
incorporation
mineralization
bacteria, three miles of mycelia, 10,000 protozoa
and 20 to 30 beneficial nematodes.
tition fo
—  Build SOM Over Multiple
Year Cover Crops
—  Time Nutrient
Mineralization with Peak
Crop Demand
—  Residue Incorporation
Soil Contact
¡  Depth
¡  Particle Size
¡  Moisture
¡  Temperature
¡ 
Rate or N mineralization or crop N uptake
Managing Crop Residues
vegetab
Recognizing the processes that happen in the soil can help make a contribution
crops mw
Soil organic matter mineralization
healthy ecosystem. Nutrients removed from the field have to be returned to close the
cereals
type of nurturing is not unlike any other type of husbandry. We need to distinguish th
0
4
8
the This
soil
requirements of the different creatures that live below the surface of the soil.
Weeks
rally
similar to putting cows on lush pasture. A good farmer feeds all its animals even ni
th
can only be seen with a microscope.
availab
residue
C:N rat
68
Cover
Crops
matter,
Cropland
Sod
Cropland
tility an
Cover
crops fix and trap nutrients, add organic matter
64
A longe
to soils, and reduce nitrate leaching, nutrient runoff,
fore rec
60
and soil erosion. In California, cover crops are widely
pattern
used in organic farming systems because the climate is
56
duction
mild enough to support growth during the fall, winter,
Less
Total
Organic
Matter
and
early spring in most crop production areas.
54
cover
c
Nonleguminous cover crops, such as grasses and
50
quent c
Brassica
species, are preferred in situations where nutriin resis
ent availability 5is high
where
cover5 crops
10 in the
15 fall and
20
25
10
unavail
Based onnitrate
bemesting andand
meststoffen
by ir W. T. Rinsema that
et al
Time in Years
can trap
phosphate
would otherwise
readily
be lost by leaching or runoff. Nonlegumes also tend to
dues,
Spreading compost
hastolerant
a different
effect temperatures
on soil life andthan
soil legumes.
quality compared
to sph
be more
of cooler
manure or plowing
under
manure.
Compost
is a when
finished
product plant-a
with litt
Legumes
fix green
atmospheric
nitrogen,
at least
con-
NUTRIENT SOURCES
organic matter in tons/acre
Making Compost
—  Nutrient Capture
—  Handle/Stockpile
Materials
—  Building the Pile,
C/N Ratio
(20-40:1)
—  Cover
—  Monitor
—  Turn
—  Cure
The Composting Process
—  Phase 1 Breakdown
—  Phase 2 Buildup
—  Speed and Temp.
—  More N and C conserved
—  Compost Varies in:
¡ 
¡ 
¡ 
% OM
Mineral Profile
Mineral Release
—  Stored in Humic Molecules
—  Minerals stored as
Humates
Antigo silt loam, contains 1 to 4% organic matter.
Crop cultivation, harvesting, erosion, and natural
decomposition gradually reduce the amount of
organic matter in soils. However, you can maintain
and even increase your soil's current organic matter
level through proper management.
Compost Application Rates
—  Build Stable OM
—  Microbial Inoculant
—  Water and Nutrient
Holding
—  Improve Soil Structure
Pools of soil organic matter based on
decomposition level
Not all soil organic matter is created equal.South
Fruit and
To
Compost
Analysis Soil
Analysis Garden vegetable wastes are easily degraded because they
contain mostly simple carbohydrates (sugars and
Nutrient lbs/c.yrd. lbs/ton lbs/acre tons to apply starches). In contrast, leaves, stems, nutshells, bark and Figu
N 5.2 8.684 (acti
trees decompose more slowly because they contain
func
P 1.6 2.672 -138 -51 funct
cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin. The ease with
K 3.3 5.511 140 25 which compounds degrade is determined by the
Ca 9.1 15.197 408 26 Well
complexity of the carbon compounds and generally
Mg 2.8 4.676 33 7 as m
follows the order: carbohydrates > hemicellulose >
Na 0.4 0.668 38 56 activ
cellulose = chitin > lignin.
such
S B Cu Fe Al Mn Zn 1 1.67 78 46 0.01 0.0167 1.2 71 In contrast
to fresh plant residues, composted
organic171 0.03 0.0501 8.6 materials decompose
slowly when added
to soil
8 13.36 -433 -32 because they
have
already
undergone
a
significant
5.6 9.352 0 amount 0.34 of decomposition
during the composting
0.5678 -45 -79 process (Fig.
0.06 2). 0.1002 6.4 63 0.0
N
P
K Ca Mg
S
Cu Mn Zn
Compost Analysis (10 tons)
Tons/acre OM
50.0
10
Cover Crop
Ta
qu
6
3
0
6
How
soi
Compost
150.0
Compost Analysis (10
tons)
Ave. Crop Removal
prev
Soil
links
a so
func
drain
pollu
200.0
100.0
De
12
Months after soil incorporation
Figure 2. Composted organic materials decompose
more slowly than fresh organic matter because they
have already undergone a significant amount of
decomposition.
1.
mi
ca
2.
ag
3.
inf
4.
ab
Summary of Management Principles
—  Apply soil amendments when needed (tight nutrient
budgeting)
—  Use tillage appropriately for
Incorporation
¡  Soil aeration
¡ 
—  Use inoculants
—  Build soil with intensive cover crops
—  Minimize bare soil or times with no carbon input
—  Capture farm nutrients and generate humus
—  Monitor, Test, Observe, and Sense…
— Chromotography
—  Understanding through Qualitative observations
Soil Food Web Testing
—  Bacteria
—  Fungi
—  Protozoa
—  Nematodes
—  Mycorrhizae
—  Nitrogen cycling
Building Intuition
—  Making time to experience, observe and be present
—  Generating Trust
—  Experimenting
—  Reading and Research
—  Connecting with other Farmers and Land Managers
—  Channel Inspiration
—  The Farm can become a “Living Lab”
Books
—  From the Soil Up, Schiefer
—  Soil Chemistry 3rd Edition, Bohn
—  The Nature and Properties of Soil, Brady
—  Healthy Crops, Chaboussou
—  The Ideal Soil, Astera
—  Mineral Nutrition of Higher Plants 2nd Edition,
Marschner
—  Building Better Soils, Magdoff
—  Soil Science Simplified, Kohnke
Amendment/Compost Sources
—  Lanchaster ag.
—  North Country Organics (distributed through
Compost Werks)
—  Midwestern Bio ag.
—  Fertrell
—  Hudson Valley Organics
—  Stone Barns Center
—  Vermont Compost Company
Thank You!