1. Soil Health Ross Wilson and Mari Veliz Ausable Bayfield Conservation Authority Soil and Water Conservation Society 2014 Annual Conference July 28 2014

2. Towards a watershed scale development of a simple, rapid, reliable, scale neutral, field ready methodology for the evaluation of .... Soil Health

3. Investigating the Link between Soil health Water quality Crop yield

4. Importance of soil health Drives a productive agriculture Primary contributor to water quality

5. Challenges with soil health Symptoms acute vs chronic Scale field vs township Scale within field variability Scale 2D Area (3D really) GIS

6. soil quality soil health Soilquality isthecapacity ofaspecifickind ofsoilwithinlandscapestosustainbiological productivity,maintainenvironmentalquality andpromoteplantandanimalhealth Soilhealth isthecondition ofthesoilin relationtoitspotentialcapabilityto sustainbiologicalproductivity,maintain environmentalquality,andpromoteplantand animalhealth(MacEwan etal.2007).

7. Highjump example potential soil quality soil health

8. Highjump example potential leg broken soil quality soil health

9. Highjump example potential leg broken sore back soil quality soil health

10. Highjump example potential leg broken sore back got flu soil quality soil health

11. Highjump example potential leg broken sore back got flu big lunch soil quality soil health

12. what soil health tests are important ?? Human health Soil health Skeletal Soil air, water, minerals Respiratory - breathing Soil porosity Circulatory - blood movement Nutrient, water movement Digestive Soil fertility

13. what do we measure ?? Soil health Soil test Soil air, water, minerals Density, proportions of each Soil porosity Total pore space Nutrient, water movement Infiltration, pore sizes Soil fertility Organic matter, NPK, pH Overall Crop yielddisease, drought best, worst

14. Side-by-Side trial same soil, slope, rainfall, current management May 2013 corn Poor health Good health

15. June 2013 corn

16. July 2014 soybeans

17. Parameters Organic Matter Aggregate Stability Porosity Bulk Density Corn yield

18. where ??

19. Organic matter (%) 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4 4.5 5 Good Poor Upr Shr Mid Toe Lwr Good health Poor health

20. Aggregate Stability (%) 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 GoodPoor Upr Shr Mid Toe Lwr Good health Poor health

21. Porosity (%) 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 Good Poor Upr Shr Mid Toe Lwr Good health Poor health

22. Density (g/cm3) 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 1.9 2 GoodPoor Upr Shr Mid Toe Lwr Good health Poor health

23. Yield (dry bu/ac) 30 50 70 90 110 130 150 170 190 210 230 GoodPoor Upr Shr Mid Toe Lwr Good health Poor health

24. Other tests ?? Drainage , infiltration Resistance to penetration Compaction at depths Pore size distribution

25. What have we learned ? Complex, no magic bullet Organic matter - critical Porosity - critical

26. Where do we need to go? Priority Stage 1 Identify appropriate field soil measurements Stage 2 Identify GIS methods watershed scale Stage 3 Verify GIS methods with field testing Stage 4 Adopt stages 1-3 for all soil types

27. Questions ? rwilson@abca.on.ca www.abca.on.ca 519-235-2610