The purpose of soil management is to nourish soil organisms so they can build soil structure and cyc

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Organic Soil Management

• The purpose of soil management is to nourish soil
  organisms so they can build soil structure and
  cycle nutrients.

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Soil Components
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Mineral component

• Sand largest O 20-40x
• Silt medium o 25x
• Clay smallest . 1
• Pore space varies with size of particles

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Soil textures
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Characteristics of the Various Soil Classes
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pH

• pH is the measure of the concentration of
  hydrogen ions.
• It is measure on a logarithmic scale going from
  1-14 with 1 being the most acidic (most hydrogen
  ions) and 14 the most basic (least hydrogen
  ions).
• pH of soil is important because certain chemical
  reactions only occur in certain range.
• Not as important for organic systems, because
  they depend on biological reactions, not chemical
  reactions.

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Soil Ecosystem

• Biological model of soil management as opposed to
  the chemical model is the major key to good soil
  management.
• More individual life forms in soil than live on
  the surface of the earth.
• 4 billion bacteria, 1 million fungi per teaspoon
  of soil
• Perform many functions to support plant life

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Biodiversity

• Soil fertility is related to having a large
  number of different types of life forms.
• Different crops depend on different ecosystems.
• Annual field crops bacteria dominated
• Woody perennials fungi dominated

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Producers-herbivores-predators-higher
predators-decomposers
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How the soil food web benefits plant life

• Builds soil structure
• Disease suppression
• Improves nitrogen retention
• Mineralizes nutrients
• Produces plant growth hormones
• Improves crop quality

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Factors to be managed

• Soil air Greatest
• Soil water
• Soil organic matter
• Soil minerals Least
• Plant response

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Soil air management

• Most important because beneficial soil organisms
  need oxygen to live.
• Anaerobic organisms produce plant toxins and bad
  smells.
• Plants also need oxygen in the soil for nutrient
  uptake and for growth of the roots.

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Soil air management

• Most important because beneficial soil organisms
  need oxygen to live.
• Anaerobic organisms produce plant toxins and bad
  smells.
• Plants also need oxygen in the soil for nutrient
  uptake and for growth of the roots.

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Soil Water Management

• All living organisms need water to survive.
• Too much or too little water can kill.

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Managing soil water

• Primary technique is tillage to create pore
  space
• Optimum soil water content is 20-30 but it will
  fluctuate with rain and/or irrigation
• Monitor soil moisture with moisture meter or
  visual examination
• Different areas will have different moisture
  levels

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Soil organic matter

• Made up of living and dead residues in different
  stages of decomposition (living, dead and long
  dead)
• Food source for the decomposers who feed on dead
  organisms and waste products

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Conserving soil organic matter

• Avoid excess tillage
• Retain crop residue
• Cover crops

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Managing soil organic matter

• Two ways
• Conserve existing organic matter
• Adding organic matter to soil

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Adding organic matter to soil

• Raw manure
• Organic standards considerations
• 120 days for root crops
• 90 days for other crops
• Compost
• Requires a large amount
• Must have source of materials to compost
• Must be gathered

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Soil mineral management

• Least effect on crop production
• Good management leads to better plant health,
  higher nutritional quality, increased flavor and
  shelf life
• Especially important in SE US because soils have
  been depleted long warm season with abundant
  rain higher rates of reactions in the soil,
  rapidly leached out of soil

N P K S Ca Mg Fe Cu
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Managing soil minerals

• Primary technique is a soil test
• Analysis of test

How to Convert an Inorganic Fertility
Recommendation to an Organic One
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