Soil

Healthy soil is the foundation for long-term success for all farms and ranches. Whether organic or conventional, raising livestock or crops, your operation will benefit when you continually improve your soil’s health. ATTRA’s soil resources can help you prevent soil erosion, increase soil organic matter and water holding capacity, manage soil fertility, and improve the profitability of your farm.

Unhealthy soil doesn’t absorb much water. Healthy soil acts like a sponge, capable of holding hundreds of thousands of gallons of water in an acre. Regenerative farming practices enable the soil to capture rainfall that otherwise might disappear as runoff. Economically, these practices can increase crop and forage production, drought resilience, access to lucrative new markets, and therefore profitability. Environmentally, they can improve soil health and biodiversity.

Soil for Water

Soil for Water supports an expanding network of farmers and ranchers who are taking steps to catch and hold more water in the soil. The Soil for Water project grew out of the western megadrought, which is putting a strain on agricultural producers across the country.

The free and voluntary program combines the use of appropriate technology, peer-to-peer learning, and adaptive management to encourage the adoption of regenerative agricultural practices. The Soil for Water project is about building lasting infrastructure and connecting dynamic agricultural producers that will make farms, ranches, and communities more resilient in the face of persistent drought and other natural disasters.

SOILFORWATER.ORG
Ellie Fleshman of Fleshman Farms in Teton County Montana USDA NRCS Flickr CC

Featured Topics

COMPOST

Compost pile

DROUGHT

Dry, cracked earth

WATER

Dew drops sit on leaves

FERTILITY

Steaming manure

BIOCHAR

Biochar

SUBTROPICAL SOIL HEALTH INITIATIVE

ATTRA’s Soil Resources

Healthy Soil for a Wealthy Tomorrow

Jeremy Brown, a fourth-generation cotton farmer in the Texas panhandle, focuses on NRCS’s five soil health principles and uses common-sense practices, including cover cropping, to increase financial prosperity, decrease health stressors, and increase nutrient density in his soils.
Elise Haschke
Farmer Chris Hay, Say Hay Farms, inspecting compost prior to application by spreader.

Tipsheet: Compost

Potting Mixes for Certified Organic Production

Farmer walking through a field

Toolkit: How to Reduce Synthetic Fertilizer Use

Reducing Tillage Intensity in Organic Production Systems

Tutorial: Soil Health

woman turning compost

Composting: The Basics

Soil Health Indicators and Tests

Soil Social: Quorum Sensing, Part 1

Sunrise is approaching. You grab your morning cup of coffee and head out to your vegetable plot. As you hold your warm mug laced between your fingers, you muse and strategize about the day’s tasks. It is that time, just at first light, that the wind is dead calm, the nightly bug chatter has ended, it is still too early for the birds to start their musical chirping, and the rooster has yet to sound the alarm. You have come to love these special few minutes of each day for their intense vacuum silence. In between sips, you hear a buzz that you haven’t heard before. It is coming from the soil beneath the tomato and squash plants. The microbiology in your soil is having a meeting.  
Darron Gaus

Dung Beetle Benefits in the Pasture Ecosystem

Mycorrhizae

Microbial Inoculants

Worm castings are hand-sorted and fresh vermicompost is screened

Vermicomposting: The Basics