WW-07399     Reviewed 2008  

SOIL: A Farmer's "Silent Partner"

Soil is the basis of farming. It delivers water and nutrients to crops, physically supports plants, helps control pests, determines where rainfall goes after it hits the earth, and protects the quality of drinking water, air, and wildlife habitat.

The goal of soil management is to protect soil and enhance its performance, so you can farm profitably and preserve environmental quality for decades to come.

Why learn more about soil management?

Consider the valuable services your soil provides:

• Growing crops. Soil delivers nutrients and water and gives plants structural support. Could your soil cycle nutrients more efficiently so you save on input costs and your crops are healthier? Could your soil store more water so crops do better during dry spells?
• Controlling water flow. Soil helps control how water moves over and through the earth’s surface. Does rainfall quickly fill waterways rather than moving slowly through your soil? Could you reduce the amount of organic matter, nutrients, and soil you are losing to erosion?
• Filtering water. Healthy soil can filter and decompose organic substances such as manure, agricultural chemicals, and other compounds that can pollute air and water.
• Storing carbon. Soil is a storehouse of carbon. As concern grows about increased atmospheric carbon dioxide, farmers may receive financial benefits for increasing the amount of carbon (organic matter) stored in their soil.

You determine how soil performs.

You cannot control slope, texture, climate, and other critical soil factors. But you can control tillage, crop rotations, soil amendments, and other management choices. Through these choices you change the structure, biological activity, and chemical content of soil, and you influence erosion rates, pest populations, nutrient availability, and crop production.

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Produced by Communication and Educational Technology Services, University of Minnesota Extension.

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