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Steuben County Soil and Water Conservation District

Angola, Indiana

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Soil Health

Soil Health is important for all land users from large scale producers to hobby producers. The USDA Natural Resource Conservation Services (NRCS) is a vital source of information on the topic of soil quality. The Indiana State Department of Agriculture (ISDA), Conservation Cropping Systems Initiative (CCSI) and Purdue University are additional sources of information on soil quality, as well as other agriculture news from across the state. The Purdue Extension Office has a publication about Collecting Soil Samples for Testing to guide landowners and producers in the collection of soil samples for testing before applying fertilizer and other nutrients. There is also a Soil Sampling for Nutrient Management brochure from the USDA NRCS.

For further soil sampling and testing guidance, please see our Soil Sampling and Analysis page.


What is soil health?

Soil health is “the continued capacity of soil to function as a vital living ecosystem that sustains plants, animals, and humans.”

Soil health is protected and enhanced by creating the conditions in the garden or farm for natural biological processes to occur.  In natural (ecological) systems, organic matter is maintained, water is conserved, nutrients are cycled, and biological activity thrives.

Soil Health Principles

The soil health system is founded on four core principles, which motivate specific conservation practices.  These principles create a recipe for regenerating soil health.  Keep in mind that all four principles work together as a system; growers will achieve maximum soil health benefits when all four are in practice.

  1. Minimize disturbance
  2. Maximize soil cover
  3. Maximize biodiversity
  4. Maximize living roots

Benefits of Soil Health

When growers are practitioners of the four principles of soil health, there are many positive results. Good soil health benefits both people and the land. Key improvements include:

  • Increased plant health
  • Increased plant productivity
  • Increased soil organic matter
  • Increased water holding capacity
  • Increased soil aggregate stability
  • Increased water infiltration
  • Improved nutrient use efficiency
  • Enhanced and diversified soil biology
  • Reduced weed pressure
  • Reduced pest pressure

What conservation practices can help improve soil health?

Conservation practices are methods growers can use to put the four soil health principles into action on the ground. These practices are a suite of strategies that regenerate soil heath and include:

  • Cover crops
  • Crop rotation
  • Mulching
  • Native and targeted plantings for beneficial insects and pollinators
  • No-till or Reduced-Till
  • Nutrient management

Pictures used with permission from Jordan Beehler and CCSI

Educational hyperlinks provided by NRCS

Office Updates

Please call the office before visiting to verify we are here as we are frequently in the field.  Contact us by phone at (260) 665-3211, ext. 3 or email steubenswcd@gmail.com for assistance.

Upcoming Events

Jan 28
9:30 am - 12:00 pm

Urban/Small Farm and Garden Soil Health Workshop: Cover Crops in Your Growing System

Feb 6
February 6 - March 20

Native Plant Kit Sale

Feb 8
5:00 pm - 7:00 pm

Steuben County SWCD Board Meeting

Feb 20
All day

Presidents’ Day

Mar 8
6:00 pm - 8:30 pm

Steuben County SWCD Annual Meeting

View Calendar

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