Atlantic Soils 2016: Digging into Soil Health

Transcription

1 Atlantic Soils 2016: Digging into Soil Health Summary of Soil Health Workshop and PEI Research Kyra Stiles PEI Department of Agriculture and Fisheries Sustainable Agriculture Resource Section

2 Summary Atlantic Soils 2016 Meeting November 2016 Description of Soil Health Research on PEI

3 Relative to the term Soil Quality Slide from: David Burton, 2016

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5 USDA: Soil Health as a Priority USDA NRCS Council developed a Soil Health Initiative Nationwide NRCS Soil Health Division was created to incentivize and facilitate producers in implementing science-based, effective, economically viable soil health management systems on the nation s diverse agricultural lands -Check out the website! (Great resource for soil issues, but also in depth section on soil health including webinars, soil literature reviews, factsheets)

6 CHECK IT OUT :

7 Atlantic Soils 2016 Meeting Nov Moncton NB Led by the Soil Conservation Council of Canada, w/partner Organizations: Agricultural Alliance of New Brunswick New Brunswick Soil and Crop Improvement Association Nova Scotia Federation of Agriculture Soil and Crop Improvement Association of Nova Scotia, PEI Federation of Agriculture, PEI Soil and Crop Improvement Association, Perennia Newfoundland and Labrador Federation of Agriculture PEI Agriculture & Fisheries Province of New Brunswick

8 Atlantic Soils 2016 Meeting Created to increase the awareness and the need for action on soil health and to talk about what can be done to secure the productive capacity of our soil resource Over 130 participants Three main speakers with three producer panels, based around the 3 pillars of Soil Health

9 Jean-Louis Daigle Retired Soil Conservationist, Engineer (ECSWCC) Dr. David Burton Dalhousie University, Agricultural Campus KEY SPEAKER: Odette Menard MAPAQ Dr. Dr. Mario Tenuta University of Manitoba

10 Keynote Address- Odette Menard Dig in your soil- learn from your soil, see it from a new perspective Importance of earthworms in soil building, decomposition, soil structure, nutrient cycling (whole package deal) Understand the influence of soil ecology on agronomics Long term investments into soil building and microbial activity for soil productivity gains

11 Biological- Dr. Mario Tenuta Defined the important relationship between roots and beneficial organisms (bacteria and fungi) Improved nutrient cycling (symbiotic relationship b/w fungi/mychorrhizae and plants) Role of beneficials in pathogen predation (nematodes) Increase OM for increase to microbial species

12 Physical- Jean Louis Daigle Discussed soil health challenges with soil erosion, compaction and drainage Impact of cultural practices on soil degradation Current Soil health pilot project (CCNB, Potatoes NB, AAFC,NBAC) The need for good soil health testing protocols, long term research and BMP development, long term goals to invest in soil health

13 Chemical- Dr. David Burton Discussed the origins and differences between soil health, quality, and fertility Role of chemical aspects of soil health (i.e. soil chemical testing, CEC, OM, ph, etc.) Precision agriculture leading to opportunities to measure soil characteristics, nutrient responses, and monitor crop yields

14 Main theme of all speakers: Soil Health is a long term investment that is required for long term sustainability PRESENTATIONS AVAILABLE AT:

15 S. MacAulay 2014 Analyzing Soil Health on PEI Soils Fall 2016 Research Project

16 CORNELL SOIL HEALTH TEST PEIDAF basing Soil health assessment on CSH Developed by Cornell University Soil Health Laboratory in Ithaca, NY Developed test originally to address soil degradation issues causing Reduced soil quality Lower crop productivity Lower farm profitability

17 Includes all three pillars of soil health Tests used are sensitive to soil mgt. and crop rotation changes over time Results are generalized to be applicable to a wide variety of soils across US, Canada

18 PROTOCOL DEVELOPMENT Assess feasibility of Cornell Soil Health tests for use on PEI, tailor ratings to PEI conditions

19 -Soil survey and data collection to create soil health database for PEI - Sample analysis based on Cornell Soil Health Test

20 TEST PLANS SUMME R 2017 DISCUSS TESTS WITH PEIAL FOR ADAPTATION COLLECT SOIL SAMPLES FALL 2016 SPRING 2017 DEVELOP SCORING FUNCTIONS FOR PEI CONDITIONS STORE/PROCESS SAMPLES AT PEI ANALYTICAL LAB WINTER 2017

21 2016 Fall Sampling Season Covered approx. 250 sample sites Range of cropping systems, rotations and field mgt. practices - Samples are mixed in field, penetrometer use at each sampling point

22 Compost s Role in Soil Health Soil Health Test largely emphasizes biological communities and promotes sustained biological activity Recommendations are largely based on additions of soil amendments, composts and manures Introducing life back to the soil

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24 Functioning of the soils -To attain a healthy soil, we need to understand and assess the soil s ability to function and perform -Not an end goal, but a neverending process -BE LOYAL TO THE SOIL. Kyra Stiles, PEIDAF kstiles@gov.pe.ca Phone: (902)