Soil moisture and temperature are key drivers of agricultural production systems. These factors dictate planting schedules, crop development, and the timing of field operations. The effect of agricultural management on soil moisture and temperature has long been a subject of debate, and one reason farmers are hesitant to implement soil health practices in southern states that receive high amounts of spring rainfall.
Water quality models estimate that increasing soil health management across southeastern states by 50% could significantly reduce nutrients (nitrogen and phosphorus) flowing into the Gulf of Mexico (Roland et al., 2022).
To represent a diversity of production systems in varying soil types and crop production, Sand County Foundation launched a farmer-to-farmer demonstration project in 2024 engaging 25 farmers across Alabama and Mississippi. Farmers are paired, one has already been adopting soil health management and the other has not.
They each have a soil sensor installed in their field to provide them real-time soil moisture and temperature data that can be shared with their paired farmer. The access to real-time data plus annual soil health samples, will allow the farmers an opportunity to observe how soil management can impact infiltration, water holding capacity, aggregate stability, and other dynamic soil properties critical to improving climate resiliency and water quality. This demonstration takes place over three cropping seasons; please check back for results.
Partners & Sponsors
This project has been funded wholly or in part by the United States Environmental Protection Agency under assistance agreement 02D48223 - 0 to Sand County Foundation. The contents of this document do not necessarily reflect the views and policies of the Environmental Protection Agency, nor does the EPA endorse trade names or recommend the use of commercial products mentioned in this document.
