Sullivan, T.

Tarah Sullivan

Improving Soil Health in Diversified Agroforestry and Silvopasture Systems of NE Washington

Soil health in agroforestry systems is largely lacking in the literature and a great need for data-driven practices has been expressed throughout NE Washington by local foresters, landowners, and tribal units. Forested systems exhibit vastly differing soil biota and response to land management compared with established treatments for soil health improvement in other agroecosystems. Therefore, […]

Selecting winter wheat for more than just yield: Improving soil health, microbial diversity, and grain micronutrient density across Washington State

There is much we do not know about the soil microbiome and little has been done to explore soil microbe x plant genotype x environment interactions. Classical wheat breeding strategies focus on yield and aboveground metrics, but recent work has identified soil and rhizosphere (area of the soil influenced by roots) characteristics that can be […]

Developing Elementary-Level Curriculum in Soil (Health) Appreciation

It’s our Future that’s at stake” was the rallying cry of tens of thousands of students in cities nationwide just a few days ago as they coordinated a global climate strike. The youth of the world are worried, and rightly so, regarding the future of our planet.  This is why targeting elementary-age students with a […]

Quantifying the Weed Seedbank Using Quantitative PCR and Soil Community Analysis

Quantification of  weed seedbanks is essential for the evaluation and improvement of integrated weed management systems by farmers and integral in the Sustaining Resources Grand Challenge. Currently, weed scientists filter seed from the soil and count them – a hopelessly time consuming process that cannot be scaled or used by farmers. If farmers could quantify […]

Sustainable Crop-Livestock Integration for System Health in the Dryland Inland Pacific Northwest

Dryland wheat-fallow producers have begun switching to a direct seed tillage system for soil health benefits such as reduced runoff, increased water infiltration, increased consistency of crop stands, more and longer period of surface cover from crop residue, better soil moisture, and fewer dust clouds at planting time. However, this practice often requires increased pesticide […]

Building soil quality, enhancing soil microbial function, and alleviating chlorosis in Concord grapes with inter-row cover crops

Leaf yellowing, or chlorosis, occurs on more than 50% of the Concord vineyards in central WA, resulting in significant reductions in vine size, uniformity, productivity, and eventually vine death. The yellowing of the leaves resembles classic Fe-deficiency chlorosis, however many studies have attempted without success to determine the precise cause and effective treatment of this […]