Soils & Fertility

Soil erosion is a continuous agricultural and environmental problem in the inland Pacific Northwest. Factors contributing to the high erosion rates include hilly topography, highly erodible soils, frequent winter freeze-thaw events that weaken the soil, and tillage and fallow practices that leave soil pulverized and bare. This project will develop a prototype framework to measure success (or lack thereof) of conservation programs.

Incentive programs to promote climate mitigation and soil health often resort to incentivizing practice adoption and crudely estimated benefits, rather than the actual soil carbon accrual. A transition to incentivizing the benefit itself, aligned with the principles of true cost accounting, is critical.

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 government entities. Forested systems exhibit vastly differing soil biota and response to land management compared with established treatments for soil health improvement in other agroecosystems. Therefore, […]

High-throughput, low-cost diagnostics for multiple aspects of soil health are a necessary component of maximizing the ability of researchers to understand soil health processes and farmers to effectively adopt soil health management practices. Across many growing regions of WA, soilborne diseases are a major limitation and given their patchy nature a large number of samples […]

With increasing fertilizer and fuel costs, producers are increasingly keen to improve on-farm nutrient cycling through biologically intensive methods. Currently, poor plant-soil-microbe interactions do not support healthy nutrient flow, which limits crop yield and favors fertilizer-dependent farming. Slow residue breakdown also inhibits direct seeding adoption and adherence since heavy residue at seeding time impedes direct […]

Agricultural intensification to meet the food needs of an increasing global population has placed tremendous pressure on our ability to maintain the health and quality of our soils. More holistic agricultural systems that encourage sustainable waste management and reuse are urgently needed to protect soil health and its roles in food production and security. Vermicompost […]

Tillage is a crucial stage in annual agricultural systems that terminates overwintering vegetation, incorporates plant residues, and prepares the soil for crops. These activities degrade soil health and impact indicators such as soil microbial biomass, organic matter, and aggregate stability. Weed populations are also influenced by tillage as seed and vegetative parts are horizontally and […]