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Build healthy soil to promote crop-, livestock- and
human health.
Features:
 Tool box measures success from the ground up
-- New resource helps farmers track soil quality, wildlife, water, and quality
of life as well as finances.
Soil: The Foundation of Life
-- J.Patrick Madden, President of the World Sustainable Agriculture
Association, describes how healthy soil produces healthy crops and healthy
people.
Soil Health Classics Online Much
theory, practice and inspiration can be gleaned from books and pamphlets first
published decades ago. Some of these hard-to-find works are finding their way
onto the world wide web at the The
Holistic Agriculture Library website:
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Hot Links:
 Woods End Research Laboratory --
Extensive compost and soil analyses, including an inexpensive
compost maturity and
soil microbial respiration test
kits.
Soil Foodweb Incorporated
-- SFI offers tests for the critical living components of your soil, including
bacterial and fungal biomass, protozoans, nematodes, vessicular-arbuscular
mycorrhize (VAM), and microarthropods. Site includes interesting
articles and an
excellent photo gallery
of soil critters at work. SFI evolved from the pioneering work of soil
ecologist Elaine Ingham at Oregon State University.
Drought Proofing Your
Farm -- Practical suggestions for improving the health of your soil to
better withstand drought. The Drought of '88 was still fresh in the mind of the
author, Walter Goldstein, agronomist at the Michael Fields Agricultural
Institute, East Troy, Wis. when he wrote this in '89. Focuses heavily on the
structure-improving role of sweetclovers. Targeted primarily at farmers in the
Northern Plains. But any farmer who fears drought will take something away from
reading this.
Earthworms and
Crop Management -- An excellent, authoritative primer from Purdue soil
scientist Eileen Kladivko. General ecology, affects on soil properties and how
your management helps -- or hurts -- earthworms. See also
The
Role of Earthworms in Healthy Soils for another good summary of earthworm
benefits. There are lots of fun and informative worm sites on the web. Try
starting your surfing from links at The
Burrow, The Worm
Page or The Worm Digest. Let us
know what you find. Email cdcramer@clarityconnect.com
Aerenchyma --
Lifelines for Living Underwater -- Article from USDA-ARS magazine
describes how special cells in the roots of warm-season grasses allow them to
grow in saturated soils, penetrate compacted layers, and tolerate both drought
and flood. Requires Adobe Acrobat reader to view. (Adobe Acrobat download
site.) Interesting reading!
USDA-NRCS
Soil
Quality Institute -- Good introduction and resources including, The
Soil Biology Primer, Soil Quality
Information Sheets, Soil
Quality Card Design Guide, and Agronomy
Technical Notes Series summaries of the effects of cover crops, rotations
and no-till on soil quality.
Building
Your Soil -- The Role of Earthworms in Healthy Soils -- Good checklist
summary from the Farmer to Farmer newsletter.
Unearthing
secrets locked deep inside each fistful of soil -- Article condensed
from March '97 issue of
Smithsonian
Magazine. "To scientists at the National
Soil Tilth Lab in Ames, Iowa, it's not just dirt they are probing--it's the
planet's sustaining surface."
More Soil Health Links
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Farm Publishing
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Craig Cramer
cdcramer@clarityconnect.com
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