Understanding Soil Health from a Management Perspective: From Concept to Field Operations.

There is growing interest in management impacts on soil health among agricultural producers in the Inland Pacific Northwest, USA. New soil testing techniques, soil health indicators and soil health scoring systems have emerged that provide different ways to assess soil nutrient supply and quantify management impacts on overall soil health. However, the relationship between the status of indicator values, specified soil function, and management practices has yet to be demonstrated in the northern Idaho and southeastern WA region. Soil health based testing and monitoring was initiated on 25 sites across a range in land management to develop better quantitative linkages between management impacts on soil health and productivity. Fields where cover cropping, conservation tillage, and liming have been implemented to address declines in soil health were targeted.