Soil health is a popular topic these days among farmers, researchers and professionals in the agricultural industry. As a holistic view of soil quality, assessing and improving soil health may help better manage and care for soils. But is it changing agricultural practices? To understand this, we first need to know what farmers think about soil health – how it impacts them, how to measure it, and whether they should try to improve it. A new paper in Soil Security by researchers at the University of Vermont Food Systems Research Center and the USDA Agricultural Research Service (USDA-ARS) explores just this. To gather insights, researchers conducted two surveys in Vermont. The first survey in 2020 included 62 soil health practitioners, while the second in 2022 involved 179 farmers. These surveys aimed to understand how soil health is perceived, measured, and valued by those who manage soil. Their analysis found that practitioners view soil as a living ecosystem that supports life, provides essential services, and enhances resilience. While previous research has sought to identify the most important indicators for soil health, practitioners here rejected this notion. They found biological, chemical, and physical indicators of soil health to be very useful and important. There is a consensus among practitioners that soil health cannot be reduced to a single metric; it requires a holistic approach.
The research team, led by Dr. Courtney Hammond Wagner, USDA-ARS Research Social Scientist, included soil scientists, ecologists, agronomists, and other experts. Their transdisciplinary approach is crucial for providing a comprehensive view of the complex systems that support food production. The team was a collaboration between the University of Vermont (UVM) Food Systems Research Center (FSRC) and the USDA-ARS which highlights the importance of diverse expertise in addressing food systems issues.
"Soil health has proven benefits like improved resilience to climate change and better water and nutrient retention. There are also proven methods to improve soil health,” says Hammond-Wagner. “Despite this, we see a gap in understanding the importance of soil health and utilizing those practices. The clear signal in our research that practitioners think of soil health as a holistic concept suggests that efforts to improve soil health might inspire more holistic changes to managing soil.”
UVM’s Soil Health Research and Extension Center (SHREC) recently began accepting soil samples and offering local testing to support farmers in assessing their soil health within Vermont's unique soil conditions. The new lab offers advanced soil health tests, including biological tests that provide information on the types and ratios of biological organisms in the soil, carbon and organic matter types, and aggregate stability.
SHREC will also engage in various outreach activities to support farmers and agricultural providers across the state with UVM Extension and will provide practical research, outreach, and education.
"This paper shows clearly that SHREC is, and will be, a critical and in-demand resource for Vermont farmers,” says Joshua Faulkner, Soil Hydrologist and Director of SHREC. “It also indicates that the development and launching of SHREC is very timely due to the recent pressures of extreme weather events, and that SHREC is well-aligned with the growing knowledge and awareness of the importance of healthy soils for resilient agriculture."
About the FSRC:
The Food Systems Research Center (FSRC) at the University of Vermont (UVM) funds people and planet centered collaborative research that connects disciplines and communities to answer complex food systems questions.
