Soil Management

“Across 41 farm sites and five soil series in Central Ohio, woodland soils had consistently lower bulk density and penetration resistance and higher porosity than cropland or meadow, while no-till and minimum till fields showed no clear physical advantage over conventional tillage even after 15+ years. Soil organic carbon explained a moderate share of variation in porosity, bulk density, and compaction (R² ≥ 0.33), suggesting building SOC is the lever — and that structural gains from reduced tillage may take longer than 15 years to show up.”

“Across 50 commercial corn-belt fields in Ohio and Indiana, manure application rate was the strongest and most consistent driver of better soil health across six indicators (organic matter, respiration, POX-C, protein, aggregate stability, bulk density). Reduced tillage helped soil protein and respiration but lowered POX-C, while living cover and crop diversity showed little measurable effect; soil texture explained much of the field-to-field variation, and using 5 years of management history predicted better than 3.”

“Cutting irrigation to 50% of crop ET over six years in Utah barely changed soil organic matter or aggregate stability, though warmer Cedar City saw ACE protein drop from 1.57 to 1.41 g/kg and Vernal soil respiration was 28% higher under full irrigation. Cover cropping was the standout for infiltration, raising field-saturated hydraulic conductivity to 24.62 cm/h versus 5.55 (tilled) and 3.42 (no-till) cm/h.”

“Across 10 long-term Arkansas row-crop trials, soil health indicators (CO2 respiration, β-glucosidase, POXC, organic matter) and composite scores were highest in the top 0-5 cm and declined with depth, and were higher in summer and winter samples than in spring or fall (fall lowest). Cover crops and fertilized treatments scored better than winter fallow and unfertilized plots, so soil health monitoring needs standardized sampling depth and season to make valid comparisons.”

“Twenty-seven years of organic no-till in central Ohio, comparing compost, manure, cover crop and fallow treatments, produced measurable differences in soil physical quality — bulk density, penetration resistance, water-stable aggregates, saturated hydraulic conductivity, organic carbon and plant-available water — at two depths, combined into a single soil physical quality index. The dataset offers a rare long-term benchmark for how organic amendments and continuous cover shape soil structure and water-holding ability.”