Soil Health
Erosion
Soil Loss
Tillage
Maintenance
100
What does a higher soil pH indicate?
What is more acidic soil?
100
What is a method to reduce erosion and stabilize soil?
What is cover cropping?
100
What does erosion, overharvesting, and compaction lead to?
What is soil degredation?
100
Why should you not till when the soil is very dry?
What is makes the soil loose putting it at increased risk for erosion?
100
What are the 4 R's?
What are right rate, right place, right time, right source?
200
What is the name of the waterproof polymer that forms the backbone of plants?
What is lignin?
200
What tillage practice is generally considered the worst in terms of preventing erosion?
What is conventional tillage?
200
Why are crops rotated?
What is to prevent disease and insect cycles by removing the host plant and maintaining a polyculture?
200
What part of the soil contains the majority of a plants root system
What is topsoil?
200
What are responsible for a majority of the work in the nitrogen cycle?
What are soil microorganisms?
300
What measures how quickly nutrients and water are able to move through soil?
What is soil infiltration rate?
300
What element does erosion lead to the loss of?
What is carbon?
300
What are the 3 different states soil pH can be at?
What are acid, alkaline, and neutral?
300
Why use tillage?
What are to...
- try to establish a good seed bed
- incorporate green manure
- decompose crop residue faster
- reduce compaction
- pest control
- incorporate fertilizer and lime
300
What three letters are labeled on soil fertilizer to represent the makeup of the fertilizer?
What are N, P, K?
400
What are the three soil textural constituents?
What are sand, silt, clay
400
What are the two water drainage types?
What are surface and subsurface?
400
What can the amount of residue left on the soil tell you?
What is the type of tillage used (conventional, reduced, or conservation)?
400
What is an advantage of tilling on an angle and why isn’t it always done?
What is reduces compaction in the same direction all the time and requires a lot of space?
400
What creates pore space?
What are plants with deep roots and tillage?
500
What is the primary type of soil in Maryland?
What are Utisols?
highly weathered soils, very productive for crops, often under forests
500
What is the name of the organic matter that doesn’t get broken down (lignin and waxes)?
What is humus?
500
What happens when a field is over-tilled?
What is the soil structure breaks down and can lead to the soil under the tillage becoming over compacted?
500
What is the name of the practice of tilling only where the crop will be planted?
What is strip tilling?
500
What is the advantage of using tracks instead of wheels on equipment?
What is to more evenly spread out the weight, with a goal of reducing compaction?