Soil Health Assessment of Long-Term No-till Field Studies in the Southern Plains.

Soil health has become a topic of great debate in recent years. There is a significant debate over whether or not soil health can be accurately determined as a result of soil testing, and whether or not conservational tillage practices will effectively increase soil health. While many protocols exist for soil health testing, there is no set testing protocol to determine the overall health of a soil using soil health indicators that correlate to productivity or environmental impacts. This study will be conducted to determine what impact conservational tillage practices (no-till) has on soil health, and to establish a testing protocol for soil health by identifying what soil health factors, if any, correlate to productivity. The study will identify a select group of indicators for soil health that could be used in a high throughput, low-cost soil health testing system. Soil health factors will be evaluated in soil samples collected from Oklahoma State University no-till plots in Lahoma, OK, Lake Carl Blackwell, OK, and Goodwell, OK. The data from this study will provide the framework for a soil health testing protocol in Oklahoma soils, as well as provide useful insights into how soil health testing factors correspond to one another and to productivity.