Soil Health
This soil type has large particles, drains quickly, and struggles to retain water.
What is sandy soil?
The detachment and movement of soil minerals and organic matter by wind and matter.
What is erosion?
The farming process involves planting crops in the fall to cover the soil until spring to prevent soil loss and conserve moisture.
What is Cover Crops?
Preparation of land prior to planting seed for a crop.
What is tillage?
In order to maintain soil fertility and restore nutrients, organic or inorganic materials are added to the soil.
What is fertilization?
This mixture of sand, silt, and clay is considered ideal for plant growth.
What is loam?
This layer of soil, often rich in organic material, is most susceptible to erosion because of its loose texture and lack of protection from plant roots.
What is topsoil?
Name one major natural force that contributes to soil erosion and subsequent soil loss in agricultural areas.
What is water or wind?
Responsible for westward expansion of agriculture in the U.S.
What is the moldboard plow?
Soil is regularly tested to evaluate its pH, nutrient content, and general health.
What is soil testing?
The ability of soil to supply essential nutrients in the right amounts for plant growth.
What is soil fertility?
The fine-grained soil that is smaller than sand but larger than clay and is very easily eroded by wind and water.
What is silt?
Which agricultural practice reduces soil loss by planting crops perpendicular to the slope of the land?
What is contour farming?
Requires disking, planting, and cultivating.
What is reduced tillage?
This element of soil health is enhanced when a field has a diverse range of plant species, which lowers the prevalence of pests and diseases.
What is biodiversity?
The ability of soil to hold and exchange positively charged ions, like calcium, potassium, and magnesium, which are essential for plant growth.
What is the cation exchange capacity?
When wind, water, and ice naturally changes through the process of geologic erosion.
What is topography?
Which farming method, involving the turning or plowing of soil, increases its susceptibility to wind and water erosion?
What is conventional tillage?
Can penetrate to a 10-inch soil depth.
What is the chisel plow?
The practice of planting different crops on the same field sequentially to improve soil structure, disrupt pest cycles and maintain fertility.
What is crop rotation?
This phenomenon occurs in acidic soils when aluminum ions become more soluble, leading to toxicity in plant roots.
What is aluminum toxicity?
The most important crop management strategy for minimizing soil erosion.
What is cover crops?
Soil loss contributes to what global issue by reducing the amount of fertile land available for farming?
What is desertification/deserts?
Reduces soil disturbance by leaving crop residues intact, which helps prevent soil erosion, enhances soil organic matter, and improves water conservation in the soil.
What is no-till farming?
Applying plant matter, including leaves, grass, twigs, crop leftovers, and straw, to the topsoil to improve soil quality.
What is mulching?