An important natural resource
Nurture your soil
The soil is a highly complex ecosystem containing multiple living organisms and needs to be nurtured.
However, despite being one of our most important natural resources, soil is still often viewed as an inert medium to which inputs are added for plant growth or pest and disease control.
To address this, we utilise a range of tests that combine observational and laboratory data to cover physical, biological, and chemical soil properties. Furthermore, by using GPS-located sampling systems, we can replicate these tests to establish changes in soil health over time as a result of any management practices.
Four simple soil assessments can be used to analyse soil health:
Visual Evaluation of Soil Structure (VESS)
VESS is designed to assesses soil structure based on the appearance and feel of soil. In this context, soil structure is an indicator of soil health based on how ‘aggregated’ the soil is. Aggregation is the crumb-like structure found in biologically healthy soil.
Earthworm count
The humble earthworm is a key indicator of biological life in the soil, both large and small. Because they are easily visible and easy to count, these soil engineers are fundamental, and increasing worm numbers can be an indicator of improving soil health.
Infiltration rate
The primary aim of the infiltration rate test is to understand how well water moves through the soil structure by timing how long it takes for water to infiltrate into the ground in seconds. Poor infiltration can indicate soil compaction or poor soil structure.
Slake test
The Slake Test assesses the stability of soil aggregates in water, revealing the integrity of the soil crumb structure. Generally, the slower the soil breaks up, the better; this is because a slow breakdown indicates a high degree of organic matter holding the soil together.
If you’re not measuring it, you can’t manage it
Understand your soil
Without an understanding of the capabilities and limitations of your soil, you cannot understand how to manage it. Soil health assessments, which can be combined with soil scanning and soil sampling, will give you the knowledge you need to improve your soils.
