BeefTalk: Healthy Soil Buffers Human Inadequacies
Kris Ringwall, Beef Specialist, NDSU Extension Service
Perhaps a healthy soil is a good buffer to our own inadequacies. As we know, water storage and availability are necessary for soil health and forage growth. Ten years ago, the Dickinson Research Extension Center implemented a cropping system on a quarter of land. The system changed the rate of average water infiltration into the soil from 1.3 inches per hour to 10.2 inches per hour, an increase of 685 percent. Additionally, the projected average plant-available nitrogen increased from 100 to 175 pounds per acre, a 75 percent increase.