“The key to soil health is to strike the right balance between all of these components.”
Physical: The ability of the soil to hold water; the
overall stability of the aggregate; the physical nature of the soil in terms of its texture, structure and compaction.
Biological: The presence of beneficial bacteria and fungi; organic matter such as roots and decaying vegetation; living organisms such as worms and insects.
Chemical: Levels of fertility including nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium and micronutrients; soil pH; and the soil’s cation exchange capacity, a measure of the “electrical” environment within soil that determines its ability to retain water and nutrients.
About 45% of a healthy soil is actually porous space made up of air or water. That’s the space where plant root systems can grow and where beneficial microbes can thrive.
Related Posts
Corn Farming: How Smart Farming Is Sustainable Farming
Sustainability is at the heart of modern agriculture and key to promoting responsible stewardship of natural resources to ensure the long-term viability of Nebraska’s family farms.One of the ways Nebraska’s corn farmers increase sustainability is [...]