ENRICHING SOIL, ENHANCING LIFE Taking Action for Soil Health. Steven R. Shafer, Ph.D. Chief Scientific Officer

Transcription

1 ENRICHING SOIL, ENHANCING LIFE Taking Action for Soil Health 1 Steven R. Shafer, Ph.D. Chief Scientific Officer

2 It s Alive! SOIL HEALTH: The capacity of a soil to function as a vital, living ecosystem that sustains plants, animals, and humans. 2

3 Mission Safeguard and enhance the vitality and productivity of soil through scientific research and advancement 3

4 Roles of the Institute Identify research & adoption gaps Build research/implementation strategies and corresponding networks/synergies Obtain funding to strategically address gaps Administer accountable, transparent, and technically proficient grants program Ensure impact of investments Incorporate research results into educational materials Enhance partnerships to increase tech transfer and adoption 4

5 Overcome the barriers to using soil health as a means to achieve goals in Agricultural production Natural resources management Sustainability 5

6 The Soil Health Institute s Action Plan Developed though an iterative process with the community of Soil Health scientists and practitioners Goals Desired Outcomes Information Gaps and Management Needs Specific Priorities for Action Specific needs to address information gaps Anticipated products Intended impact Actionable steps 6

7 RESEARCH What we don t know MEASUREMENT & ASSESSMENT What the current status is ECONOMIC ANALYSES What the costs, risks, and benefits are COMMUNICATIONS & EDUCATION Getting the word out POLICY A cornerstone for decision making 7

8 Tillage & Cover Crop Impacts On Water Infiltration Rate Location Years Tillage & Crop Impact on Infiltration Rate Reference KS 15 NT Winter Wheat-Sorghum 182% Increase with Cover Crop Blanco-Canqui et al. (2011) MD 11 NT Corn % Increase with Cover Crop (different sites & years) Steele et al. (2012) KS 11 NT Wheat- Sorghum-Fallow % Increase with No-Till Stone and Schlegel (20) Malawi 3 NT Corn 165% Increase in No-Till TerAvest et al. (2015) 8

9 State AL GA KY MD MO 9 Tillage & Crop CT Cotton NT Cotton NT Cotton CT Corn CT Corn CT Corn NT Corn CT Wheat NT Wheat CT Corn NT Corn NT Soybean NT Soybean NT Soybean NT Soybean Tillage & Cover Crop Impacts on Soil & Nutrient Losses Cover Crop None None W. Wheat None W. Rye None Ryegrass None Rye/Alfalfa None Barley None Chickweed C. Bluegrass D. Brome Soil Loss Nitrate N Loss Soluble P Loss (lbs/ac/yr) Reference Yoo et al. (1998) Langdale et al. (1985) Klausner et al. (1974) Angle et al. (1984) Zhu et al. (1989)

10 Cover Crop Impacts on Nitrate Leaching Location Cover Crop Reduction in Reference Nitrate Leaching (%) CA Rye Wyland et al. (1996) DE Rye 30 Ritter et al. (1998) France Ryegrass 63 Martinez and Guirard (1990) IN Winter Wheat 61 Kladivko et al. (2004) (and reduced fertilizer) IA Rye 61 Kaspar et al. (2007) KY Rye 94 McCracken et al. (1994) KY Hairy Vetch 48 McCracken et al. (1994) MD Rye 77 Staver and Brinsfield (1990) MD Rye 80 Staver and Brinsfield (1998) MI Rye Rasse et al. (2000) MN Rye 13 Strock et al. (2004)

11 South Dakota 11

12 Soil Organic C (Mg/ha) State Years Conventional Tillage No Tillage IA IL IN KY

13 WATER (% by Volume) SAND FC PWP Available Water Holding Capacity Adapted from Hudson (1994) ORGANIC CARBON (% by Weight) 13

14 USDA-SARE, CTIC Survey 2012 Corn Yield Drought States 14

15 RESEARCH on Water Availability How much soil C = How much water-holding capacity? How do other soil properties affect water infiltration rate? USDA-ARS 15

16 RESEARCH on Water Quality How does soil health affect water quality? Plant uptake and nutrient use efficiency Nutrient losses Impact of conservation practices 16

17 Soil Health Relationships with Water Quality in the Mississippi River Basin Don Meals, Stone Environmental, Inc. Action Plan Priorities: Water Quality Evaluating Measurements & Frameworks Piloting for Larger-scale Assessment Partnering with National/International Organizations Funding: Private external Objectives: Relate soil health measurements to edge-offield water quality measurements 17

18 Soil Health Relationships with Water Quality in the Mississippi River Basin Approach: Long-term paired watershed sites - relate soil health measurements to water quality data Partners: USDA, Land Grant Universities, Private Timeline: 12/1/17 6/30/18 Anticipated Outcomes: 1. Peer-reviewed scientific article relating soil health measurements to water quality. 2. Wide dissemination of research results to scientific and general audiences. 18

19 RESEARCH on Plant Nutrients Effects of plant mixtures on nutrient availability soil microbiome plant health residue decomposition Are our fertilizer management recommendations current for current genotypes, environments? n.ac.uk/sites/def ault/files/events/ CerealCloverMi xturefield345x2 50.jpg? c.org/ka-perseusimages/3ad78bcb8 eab01a d 78ea0cb640c7ddc 0.png g 19

20 RESEARCH on Soil Carbon What are the limits to sequestering C in different soils? How much variation is introduced by different crops and management systems? Photos: Orgiazzi et al., Global Soil Biodiversity Atlas. European Commission, Luxembourg. 20

21 RESEARCH on Soil Health Human Health Connections Human microbiome Nutritional value of foods Food safety Water and air quality Manure and pathogens Photos: Orgiazzi et al., Global Soil Biodiversity Atlas. European Commission, Luxembourg. 21

22 MEASUREMENT & ASSESSMENT What is the current situation for soil health in the United States? What does it mean? Generate data and analyses to: establish baselines at regional to national scales; identify trends; interpret for individual land managers and local decision makers; support selection of land management practices provide information to policy makers. 22

23 The National Soil Health Assessment Two needs must be met. Specific measurements having known relationships to land management practices and soil health. Sampling design and protocols that can be deployed in procedurally and statistically rigorous ways 23

24 Characterization of soil health measurement Tiers Tier 1: Mostly physical and chemical measurements o Known, defined, widely used o Good and Bad reasonably known for specific soils, crops, etc. o Known actions to be taken Tier 2: Mostly biological measurements o Known relationship to soil health o Broad ranges for good and bad o Some management actions known more research needed Tier 3: Mostly biological measurements o Known conceptual relationship to soil health o Research needed on what values are desirable o Research needed on how to manage it Conduct research to move the Tier 2 and 3 indicators into Tier 1 24

25 Tier 1 Survey INDICATOR Organic carbon ph Water-stable aggregation Crop yield Soil texture Soil penetration resistance Cation Exchange Capacity Electrical conductivity Potassium Short-term carbon mineralization Nitrogen mineralization rate Visual rating of erosion Nitrogen % Base saturation Phosphorus Bulk density Micronutrients 25 Min Max Median Mode Mean Nearly universal agreement Very strong agreement Clear consensus Moderate to weak consensus Ambivalence Methods: List generated from Soil Renaissance or SHI meetings. Sent list to 179 experts, received 48 responses. Rate each indicator from 1 (useless) to (essential).

26 Tier 2 Measurement Development 26 Technical meetings sponsored by the Noble Foundation, Farm Foundation, or the Soil Health Institute during Technical papers commissioned by the SHI, written by teams of USDA and university experts for discussion at the 2016 SHI Annual Meeting in Louisville. Consolidated paper involving experts from NRCS (8), ARS (), and universities (8) (led by NRCS) Anticipated Outcomes Research, field tests, and publication of indicators Tier 2 tests elevated to Tier 1 for widespread use by land managers, NRCS field personnel, analytical laboratories.

27 Tier 2 Candidate Measurements in Development under partnership of SHI, NRCS, ARS, universities 227 Soil Structural Stability ARS Wet microaggregate stability NRCS Wet aggregation Cornell sprinkle infiltrometer General Microbial Activity Short Term C Mineralization Beta-glucosidase N-acetyl glucosaminidase Phosphomonoesterases Arylsulfatase Organic Matter Cycling & C Sequestration Dry combustion Wet oxidation Loss on ignition Microbial Diversity Phospholipid fatty acid or Esterlinked fatty acid methyl ester profile Carbon Food Source Permanganate oxidizable carbon Particulate organic matter 28-day carbon mineralization Cold/Hot water extractable organic carbon Soluble carbohydrates Substrate-induced respiration Microbial biomass carbon (fumigation-incubation/extraction Bioavailable Nitrogen Autoclaved citrate extractable protein content Cold water extractable organic N Correlation with short-term C mineralization 7-day anaerobic potentially mineralizable N 28-day aerobic potentially mineralizable N incubation Illinois soil N test (Solvita) Beta-glucosaminidase activity Protease

28 MEASUREMENT & ASSESSMENT - What combinations of measurements are useful? Are they useful everywhere? Soil Management Assessment Framework Comprehensive Assessment of Soil Health Haney Test Others? USDA-ARS USDA-ARS USDA-ARS org/images/publications/ss saj/68/6/1945f1.jpeg l.edu/sites/sips.cals.c ornell.edu/files/styles/ people_large/public/p eople/shmanualx150.jpg?itok= hz9jahc_ 28

29 29 Assessing & Expanding Soil Health for Productivity, Economic, and Environmental Benefits Action Plan Priorities: Water Quality C Sequestration GHGs Evaluating Measurements & Frameworks Piloting for Larger-scale Assessment Partnering with National/International Organizations Funding: FFAR - $9.44 million to a 3-party consortium: Soil Health Institute Soil Health Partnership The Nature Conservancy

30 ON LONG-TERM EXPERIMENT SITES Develop soil health measurements, standards, and comprehensive evaluation ON WORKING FARMS Relate management practices to outcomes for production, soil health, and sustainability Expanded acreage of farmland managed with practices that sustain and enhance soil health and its outcomes IN CONFERENCES AND OUTREACH MATERIALS Support markets for non-operator landowners and agricultural retailers with well-informed constituencies and strategies 30

31 31

32 ECONOMIC ANALYSES - Costs, risks, benefits: How can we use soil health to keep farmers in business? How does soil health affect year-to-year variability in yield? How does soil health contribute to farm profitability? What is soil health worth? How to factor economic information into soil health management decision making? USDA-ARS USDA-ARS USDA-ARS USDA-ARS USDA-ARS 32

33 Quantifying Economic Risk of Soil Health Management Systems to Enhance Adoption and Environmental Quality Action Plan Priorities: Quantify soil health management systems impacts on economic risk Funding: Private external Objectives: 1. Quantify economic risk of soil health management systems to enhance adoption and environmental quality. 2. Understand the perceived challenges and risks that ag retailers and certified crop advisers face in providing cover crop services. Approach: Meta-analyses of published data on practices vs yields Surveys of ag retailers and Certified Crop Advisers 33

34 Quantifying Economic Risk of Soil Health Management Systems to Enhance Adoption and Environmental Quality Results: Crop rotations and organic matter additions leads to more consistent yields of some crops (tillage and cover crops do not). Contribution Margin provides an analytical metric that allows producers to evaluate practices based on a personally acceptable level of risk. The greatest perceived barriers to cover crop adoption are lack of customer demand, and lack of evidence of local cover crop benefits. Timeline: October 15, 2016 October 14, 2018 Anticipated Outcomes: Data and information to develop decisionsupport tools; educational materials to enable producers and others to analyze their specific needs. 34

35 COMMUNICATIONS & EDUCATION What kind of communication is most effective? Who is the audience? Who should partner with whom? Where can the information be found? USDA-ARS USDA-ARS h=950&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=x&ved=0ahukewiy3fjc2_7rahxi5iykhwefboaq_auibygc#tbm=is ch&q=website+on+computer&imgdii=g2d4y24ss7c_mm:&imgrc=lq06kcwachmcvm: USDA-ARS k.com/files/styles/cover/public/2015//19/ cover1800-x-2400.jpg USDA-ARS OcifQJyBu8U/S1600-R/20+conference+letterhead+A.jpg USDA-ARS 35

36 36 Soil Health Research Landscape Tool

37 Soil Health Research Landscape Tool Action Plan Priorities: All objectives Funding: Private external Objectives: Provide publicly-accessible, online library of soil health related research Approach: Sponsor literature reviews; acquire other collections; automate searches and acquisitions 37

38 Soil Health Research Landscape Tool Project Update: - Literature Reviews Manure and Soil Health (MaSH) Mini-Grants Supplement awards from the North Central Region Water Network (3 x $1,000 each) (completed) SHI Literature Review Grants (5 x $8,000 each) (completion in 1 st quarter 2018) 38

39 Soil Health Research Landscape Tool Project Update: - Import ~12,000 references from the Soil Ecology Biological Indicators Laboratory (University of Vermont). Completion by March Automate acquisition of literature via Natural Language Processing though a contract with lum.ai LLC and cooperation with the Tri Societies. Completion by May

40 POLICY Which current policies affect soil health? Intended and unintended consequences Incentives and disincentives Where can information on soil health have influence? Farm Bill which Titles? State and Local jurisdictions What works? What doesn t? USDA-ARS USDA-ARS USDA-ARS USDA-ARS USDA-ARS 40

41 Coordinating Coalition for Soil Health Action Plan Priorities: Enhance effectiveness by increasing communication Establish partnerships with key national & international organizations Objective: To facilitate strategic coordination of soil health activities across regional and national organizations to optimize impact and scale. Update: Recommendations to NIFA 1. emphasize SH 2. recognize soil health as a program area, 3. allocate funds for integrated research, education, extension in soil health 41

42 We can go a long way in addressing these kinds of problems through research on soil and soil health. 42

43 Mission Safeguard and enhance the vitality and productivity of soil through scientific research and advancement 43

44 44 Photo credit: wsorc.org