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Cornell University

Cornell Soil Health Program

Teaching, research, and outreach to protect and improve soils around planet-wide

Research

Currently, we are involved in several partnerships and areas of new research including developing new regional scoring curves for a standardized Soil Health Assessment and Framework and integrating soil health test information with adaptive nitrogen management tools such as Adapt-N. Below is a short description of past projects highlighting our work:

The soil health assessment protocol and evaluation (SHAPE) initiative

In collaboration with the USDA-Agricultural Research Service and the University of Missouri, we are working on better and more universal interpretation approaches for soil health data. Expanding upon the earlier scoring functions developed for the Comprehensive assessment of Soil Health, a large national dataset was employed to develop scoring functions that can be used for any location in the continental United States. By using a Bayesian modeling approach, interpretive functions were developed based on mean annual temperature, mean annual precipitation, soil type, and texture group.  The framework is referred to as SHAPE (for soil health assessment protocol and evaluation).  New scoring functions were first developed for soil organic carbon and subsequently for other soil health indicators.

Collaborators: Kristen Veum, USDA-ARS, Marcio Nunes, USDA-ARS (now Univ. Florida), Scott Holan, Univ. Missouri, Skye Wills, USDA-ARS

Publication:  Nunes MR, Veum KS, Parker PA, Holan S, Karlen DL, Amsili JP, van Es HM, Wills SA, Seybold CA, Moorman TB. 2021. The soil health assessment protocol and evaluation applied to soil organic carbon. Soil Science Society of America Journal. DOI: 10.1002/saj2.20244.

New York State Soil Health Initiative Research

In 2020, we completed an extensive characterization of biological, physical, and chemical soil health indicators across soil texture (an inherent property) and cropping system (a management factor) in New York State. These efforts enable NYS policy makers, agricultural professionals, and farmers to interpret soil health data and set soil health goals within the context of their specific soil and management environments. Increased knowledge of the effects of soil texture, the most defining inherent soil property, and cropping system on biological and physical properties are vital to understanding how agricultural management affects healthy soil functioning.

Key Summary Points:

  • 1,456 samples were analyzed to assess the state of soil health across New York State (NYS).
  • Soil health in New York is affected by both soil type and cropping system differences that relate to carbon cycling and soil disturbance.
  • New metrics were established to evaluate soil health in NYS.
  • Aspirational soil health goals were established for different soil types and cropping systems.
  • Soil carbon storage potential was assessed for different soil types and cropping systems: Annual Grain and Processing Vegetable systems have greater potential for carbon farming than Pasture, Dairy Crop, and Mixed Vegetable systems.

More information: Summary and Technical Reports for the Characterization of Soil Health in New York State.

USDA-NRCS CIG 2015-2020 A Practical Approach to National Comprehensive Soil Health Management Assessment

The goal of this project was to further develop and adjust the CSHT decision tool to foster broader implementation, application, and use on a national scale. Over the last five years, our team has been a leader in the national soil health movement and we’ve seen tremendous growth in the awareness of soil health concepts and use of soil health assessment frameworks. We’ve been at the forefront of research efforts to advance a standardized and comprehensive assessment of soil health at state and national levels. Secondly, we’ve worked to develop tools and research to understand the financial, soil health, and environmental benefits of sustainable soil and nitrogen management. Finally, we’ve developed and implemented numerous workshops and practical programs to promote soil health management.

The objectives of the project were to:
1. Collaborate for the advancement of a standardized Soil Health Assessment Framework;
2. Enhance the utility of our Basic and Standard Soil Health Test for use on a national scale;
3. Develop and implement workshops and practical programs to engage important audiences;

Significant milestones included:

  • Expanded our national soil health database to over 10,000 samples (Figure 1).
  • Provided scientific and technical support to many national and local soil health efforts.
  • Conducted a total of 143 outreach events to a total of 10,180 stakeholders and published numerous resources.

Check out the Final Report for details about the project.

USDA-NRCS CIG 2010 – Precise Nitrogen Management for Corn Production: Mitigating Environmental Nitrogen Losses and Adapting to Climate Change

In order to contribute significant solutions to perpetual U.S. water quality and greenhouse gas emissions issues related to corn nitrogen management, this project demonstrated and advanced the use of precision N management by deriving fertilizer estimates from dynamic simulation modeling, combined with high-resolution climate data, and site specific soil and management information through use of the Adapt-N tool. Efforts focused on two general areas: (i) advancing adoption through in-person and online training of stakeholders, on-farm demonstration trials of grower-chosen vs. model-derived N rates, and evaluation, and (ii) enhancing the Adapt-N tool for wider geographical areas and broader sets of agronomic practices. The focus areas were New York and Iowa, with pilot efforts originally planned in Indiana and Pennsylvania.

As part of this project, soil samples from research and commercial farms were analyzed using protocols for soil proteins (an indicator of the highest N-containing component of organic matter) and respiration (an indicator of microbial activity). These indicators are now included in the Comprehensive Assessment of Soil Health. One recommendation from this project was to assess the potential of soil health data, such as respiration and soil proteins, to refine N recommendations and highlight the impacts of diverse and divergent soil health status across farms on N dynamics.

New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets – Implementing the Adapt-N Tool in Northern NY: Reducing Cost, Mitigating Losses, and Adapting to Climate Change

This project focused on three important objectives: 1) to beta-test the Adapt-N tool’s recommendations against current grower practices on northern New York State farms to assess whether the tool’s recommendations can increase grower profits and decrease unnecessary N inputs, and to expand education and on-farm implementation of the Adapt-N tool in northern New York, 2) to obtain nitrate leaching data in northern New York from research field with lysimeter plots to document the water quality benefits of using Adapt-N, 3) to enhance the precision of Adapt-N recommendations by incorporating further soil test information inputs related to soil health, particularly N mineralization and water dynamics, as well as information gained from on-farm use, into future versions of the tool.

We found that – 1) In short: in drier years (2011-2012) Adapt-N decreased N applications in NY by 66lb/ac, increasing grower profits in 80% of cases (more with proper use of the updated tool) by $31/ac on average, with minimal yield reductions. In 2013 with very wet spring conditions, Adapt-N increased N inputs by 28lb/ac on average over grower rates, for a yield gain of 24 bu/ac on average, and a profit increase in 90% of trials, by $106/ac on average. 2014 seems to be in line with 2011-12, results as it was more or less a “normal” year. More data and analysis pending for 2014. 2) Drainage water samples collected from lysimeters indicated lower water quality impacts under Adapt-N management. More lysimeter samples were taken in 2014 and more are under way for 2015. Data gathering and analysis are still pending. 3) Development of two new service-lab protocols related to organic matter quality and microbial activity (soil protein content and respiration) was completed. These protocols have been moved into Cornell’s Nutrient Analysis Laboratory. All Adapt-N trial samples have been analyzed for these indicators. A beta soil health module for Adapt-N will be developed for testing in 2015. This activity was delayed in 2014 because Adapt-N was moved to the commercial version and work was done to develop the website interface and transitioning to commercial use. Module improvements within Adapt-N will be a priority in 2015.

 

Publications

Journal articles:

Soil Health:

Sustainable Cropping Systems:

Extension Publications

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