Soil Health on the Farm, Ranch, and in the Garden

378 Pages·2020·13.719 MB·English

by  Kenneth E. Spaeth Jr.

Kenneth E. Spaeth Jr.
Soil Health
on the Farm,
Ranch, and in
the Garden
Soil Health on the Farm, Ranch, and in the Garden
Kenneth E. Spaeth Jr.
Soil Health on the Farm,
Ranch, and in the Garden
Kenneth E. Spaeth Jr.
Hayley Drive
Weatherford, TX, USA
ISBN 978-3-030-40397-3 ISBN 978-3-030-40398-0 (eBook)
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-40398-0
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Preface
Soil health is undoubtedly a “hot topic” in agriculture; although not a new idea, the
resurgence of soil health principles is producing positive results throughout the agri-
cultural community with emphasis on cultural acceptance, improving hydrology
and reducing erosion, planting cover crops, and restoring and maintaining soil
organic matter, microbial populations, fertility, and soil physical properties. Soil
health is a concept that is important across all land uses, including cropland, range-
land, pastureland, forestland, and garden environments. Why write a book on soil
health? As a scientist and conservation agent, this is the book I want as a reference
to quickly obtain information on a myriad of soil health subjects. This book is not
intended as a comprehensive textbook; the content of the material would need to be
greatly expanded in size, scope, and content; however, Soil Health on the Farm,
Ranch, and in the Garden can augment the study of soil health in the college cur-
riculum and/or provide reference material for use in practical situations (teaching,
use by landowners, managers, and professional agents). The objectives of this book
are 1) to convey a conceptual framework i.e., ecological site concept, which can
serve as a reference for  soil health attributes, 2) clarify the aspects of how environ-
mental variables interact with the biotic and abiotic factors in the ecosystem; 3)
differentiate soil health dynamics between different land uses (cropland vs. grazing-
lands), 4) highlight the importance of hydrology and hydrologic function with soil
health, 5) present examples of how cover crops and natural vegetation protect the
soil surface and, after decomposition become organic matter, 6) display and discuss
the organic matter cycle perceptions from several authors; and provide some realis-
tic examples of organic matter development in the soil, and 7) present some con-
cepts that are useful in assessing soil health on site for cropland, pastureland,
rangeland, and gardens.
There are many viewpoints as to the definition of soil health and what constitutes
soil health in the field. Chapter 1 provides a historical context of taming the land and
current definitions of soil quality and health. Before soil health can be ascertained
on the local field level, an understanding of the ecological site is imperative so that
baselines can be established as to site and soil potential (Chap. 2). Ecological sites
are dynamic and unique across the landscape, and awareness and use of ecological
v
vi Preface
site descriptions on the lands we live on or manage, i.e., in a farm, ranch, or garden
setting, is the first step in maintaining soil health and continued prosperity of any
agricultural endeavor. State and transition models and narratives associated with
ecological sites are the culmination of a collection of knowledge about ecosystem
dynamics and changes in response to natural events and management applications.
There are many inherent environmental variables associated with soil health. The
interactions between climate, soil physical and chemical properties, and historic
plant community and existing plant composition, soil flora and fauna, hydrology,
and past and current management are complex and dynamic. When one considers
the most limiting factor in terrestrial environments, i.e., “water,” it should be no
surprise that hydrology is related to almost every aspect of terrestrial ecosystems.
The hydrologic cycle and its function are integral to the health of the soil. Soil
health is dependent on proper hydrologic function; organic matter cycling cannot
proceed without water and associated hydrologic dynamics. Hydrology and interac-
tions with agricultural land use are covered in detail in Chaps. 3, 4, and 5.
Organic matter is the core of soil health as it is involved in many environmental
processes related to atmospheric carbon, climate, soil, plants, and microorganisms.
The soil organic matter and carbon cycle are important aspects of understanding the
interactions of abiotic and biotic variables in the environment. Why Chap. 6 heading
“Organic Matter: The Whole Truth and Nothing but the Truth”? There are many
misconceptions and exaggerations regarding the organic matter and soil health. This
chapter is intended to provide the reader with a relevant collection of reference
material.
The final chapter, “Soil-Hydrology-Plant Assessment Technologies for Cropland,
Rangeland, Pastureland, and Gardens,” provides a summary of some of the “state-
of- the-art” assessment technologies. One novel approach in Chap. 7 encourages the
customization of visual land assessments in cropland, grazingland, and garden set-
tings to address local concerns.
Weatherford, TX, USA Kenneth E. Spaeth Jr.
Contents
1 Taming the Land: A Historical Perspective . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Taming the Land and Its Consequences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
The Advent of Agriculture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Land Statistics: Area and Ownership in the United States
and Erosion Trends . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
What Is Soil Health: Is It a New Idea? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Objectives of This Book . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
2 The Ecological Connection in Farming, Ranching,
and Gardening . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
Classifying Terrestrial Ecosystems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Examining the Landscape: Concepts of Land Classification . . . . . . . . . 37
Examples of Two Hierarchical Classifications of Terrestrial Plant
Communities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
Case Study . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
Hierarchical Classification: Ecoregion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
Rolling Plains and Breaks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
Hierarchical Classification: USDA-NRCS-Land Resource Region:
Western Range and Irrigated Region and Major Land Resource
Area 73 Rolling Plains and Breaks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
Evaluating the Landscape at the Ecological Site Scale . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
Ecological Site State and Transition Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
3 Hydrology and Erosion Processes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
Hydrology and Erosion Processes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
Hydrologic Budget . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
Precipitation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
Raindrop Dynamics and Plant Interception . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
vii
viii Contents
Design Storm Frequencies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
Infiltration Dynamics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
Biological Soil Crusts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
Infiltration Capacity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
Infiltration Rate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
Infiltration Curve . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
Infiltrability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106
Hydraulic Conductivity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106
Percolation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
Soil Water Characteristics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
Plant Available Water . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
Runoff . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111
Watershed Hydrograph . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112
Baseflow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112
Subsurface Flow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113
Evaporation, Transpiration, and Evapotranspiration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113
Evaporation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113
Transpiration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115
Evapotranspiration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115
Erosion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116
Water Erosion Dynamics (Figs. 3.16 and 3.17) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118
Hydrology and Erosion Models: The Importance of Plant
Litter and Foliar Cover . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122
Wind-Induced Erosion (Fig. 3.22) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126
Vegetative Influences and Manipulation on Soil Physical
Properties Related to Hydrology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128
Conclusions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129
4 Cover Crop Dynamics on Hydrology and Erosion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137
History and Agronomic Impacts of Cover Crops . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137
Advantages and Disadvantages of Cover Crops . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138
Cover Crop Benefits to Hydrology and Erosion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143
Rooting Dynamics and Cover Crops . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150
Treatment I: Corn Grain, Fall Plow 3% Slope . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154
SCI and STIR Output . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155
Treatment II: Corn Grain, Fall Plot 5% Slope . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155
SCI and STIR Output . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156
Treatment III: Corn Grain, Spring Disk Cultivation
After No-Till Rye Cover Crop 3% Slope . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157
SCI and STIR Output . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158
Treatment IV: Corn Grain, No-Till Corn with No-Till Rye
Cover Crop 3% Slope . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158
SCI and STIR Output . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160
Contents ix
5 Vegetation Effects on Hydrology and Erosion: Grazinglands . . . . . . 165
Soil Health Concepts on Rangeland . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166
Fire Dynamics on Hydrology and Erosion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195
Grazing Effects on Rangeland Hydrology and Erosion . . . . . . . . . . . . . 198
Influence of Livestock Grazing and Trampling on Hydrology . . . . . . . . 199
Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 210
Soil Erosion and Sediment Production on Watersheds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 212
Hydrologic Effects of Range Improvement Practices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 213
Riparian Vegetation and Grazing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 214
Summary and Conclusions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 215
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 216
6 Organic Matter: The Whole Truth and Nothing but the Truth . . . . . 227
Introducing Carbon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 228
Global Carbon Cycle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 229
Organic Matter Content in Soil . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 235
Carbon Budgets and Balance in Terrestrial Ecosystems . . . . . . . . . . . 236
Biogeochemical Cycles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 240
Conceptual Flow of Soil Organic Matter and Associated Nutrients . . 244
Carbon Sequestration Potentials and Benefits of Conservation
Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 253
Soil Loss Effects on Carbon Budget . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 257
Open Burning Effects on Carbon Balance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 260
Contribution of Plant Residues to Soil Organic Matter
and Fertility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 262
Carbon Balance Examples in Cropland, Rangeland, Forest,
and Garden Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 265
Manure Applications and Carbon Balance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 278
Quick Facts Regarding Manure? (Tables 6.11 and 6.12) . . . . . . . . . . 281
Manure Applications and Nitrogen Dynamics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 286
Organic Matter Fact Sheet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 289
Global Carbon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 289
Soils. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 290
Microbial Roles in SOM Formation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 292
Manure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 294
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 295
7 Soil-Hydrology-Plant Assessment Technologies for Cropland,
Rangeland, Pastureland, and Gardens . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 305
Getting to Know Your Soil . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 308
Soil Surveys . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 308
Web Soil Survey . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 309
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 359
Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 363
Chapter 1
Taming the Land: A Historical Perspective
Abstract Soil health and quality are not new ideas but have gained a resurgence
among land users. Many popular publications and scientific studies published in
peer-reviewed journals address new ideas and research on cover crops, applying
manure and other soil amendments, practicing crop rotations, and using minimum
tillage or no-till cropping systems. On cropland, soil health dynamics are quite dif-
ferent from grazinglands as the soils are cultivated and fertilized with various
amendments (synthetic and/or organic). On grazinglands, ranchers manage soil
health through grazing practices and managing vegetation. Therein lies the founda-
tion of this book: current soil health emphasis is based on conservation, sustaining
the soil resource and maintaining production, and restoration, where economically
possible and feasible.
Questions
• Differentiate the concepts of soil quality and soil health.
• Throughout history, what have been the key challenges in cropland agriculture?
• How has the pristine land use concept affected the use and management of lands
in the United States?
• Discuss how conservation practices are related to soil health.
I have surveyed vast landscapes from precipices, gorges, and mountains and
marveled at the respective landscapes across the United States. The beauty and the
complexity of geological influences, topography, and vegetation are incomprehen-
sible when one considers all the environmental factors and evolutionary events that
were responsible for what we observe today. One can only wonder what first impres-
sions indigenous peoples had as they explored and settled in unknown lands
throughout the world―awe, and amazement perhaps? Our ancient ancestors who
lived in greater intimacy with nature realized the importance and state of the
resources around them because of their direct contact with their environment for
their livelihood. Various estimates of when and where the earliest systems of culti-
vation and animal husbandry vary, but 10,000 years ago is a reasonable estimate.
Agricultural practitioners, those involved in farming, ranching, or gardening,
often ask questions and wonder about what the land was like before human
© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020 1
K. E. Spaeth Jr., Soil Health on the Farm, Ranch, and in the Garden,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-40398-0_1