Identifying Practical Soil Health Indicators in Semi-Arid Environments.

Soil health has become an increasingly important area of emphasis in land management, particularly agricultural land management, within NRCS, in the larger scientific community and with the general public. As interest in soil health management continues to increase, so does the need for consistent, replicable, scientifically sound indicators and associated data that will allow for the assessment of how agricultural management practices are affecting soil health over time. In semi-arid regions of Texas, research has shown that soil organic C, a standard soil health indicator, has shown little or no change over the long-term while other soil properties have been greatly impacted in the short-term. As part of the NRCS coordinated project Dynamic Soil Properties for Soil Health Assessment, we evaluated the effects of various long-term management practices on soil properties and subsequent correlation with soil health and crop yields. Two benchmark soils, Amarillo and Pullman, were selected for evaluation. For each soil, three management practices were quantified: 1) native grassland; 2) no-till row cropping; and 3) conventional tillage row cropping. Soil physical, chemical, and biological properties were quantified for each scenario. Initial results have shown mixed results among various measured properties. Initially, measured soil health indicators have not been well correlated to crop yields. Analytical costs are also a variable that must be considered for some soil health approaches when considering viability to commercial users.