Give Soil A Physical:Simple tools can measure soil health in the field

摘要

How many times have you looked at a yield map and wondered why one part of a field outyielded another? The answer might be a difference in soil health. New tools make it easier to give your soil a physical examination to discover yield-limiting problems and start to remedy them.A soil physical exam can also help you decide how much to pay for a farm and how to make all of the land you operate more productive."Getting a handle on soil health and then improving it is a trend that's here to stay," says Farm Journal Field Agronomist Ken Ferrie. "We now understand that healthy soil produces higher yields, uses inputs more efficiently and protects the environmentfrom pollution."