Soil Health

Download the Montana Soil Health Strategy (PDF; 555 KB) November 2015

• Cover Crop Tips
• Economics of Reduced Tillage in Sugar Beets (PDF; 15.9 MB)
• Grazing Management and Soil Health: Keys to Better Soil, Plant, Animal, and Financial Health (PDF; 4.9 MB)
• Montana NRCS Soil Health Project Reports 2016 - Bozeman Area
• Montana NRCS Soil Health Project Reports 2015 - Bozeman Area
• Soil Health Workshops and Tours
• Soil Health, A Montana Perspective  Story articles and videos about what's happening in Montana.
• Soil Health Strategy in Montana
• Soil Health Across the Nation
• Soil Health - National NRCS Soil Health web pages
• Soil Health Information on Other Websites
• Reading List: Books to Boost Your Soil Health Knowledge
• Gardening for Soil Health

Soil health workshops and tours are listed on Montana NRCS Events and Deadlines. This list is kept current and includes contact information for the events.

Soil Health, A Montana Perspective

• Continuing with Soil Health in Montana Presentation given February 17, 2016. (PDF; 1.6 MB)
• Grazing Management and Soil Health (PDF; 4.9 MB)
• The Soil Health, A Montana Perspective video series provides a Montana-focused look at the soil health topic. Many of us have heard of these ideas working in other parts of the country, but is it really possible in Montana? The Tools for Soil Health segments of the series summarize some of the conservation practices that can be used in Montana to improve soil health. In the Interviews with Montana Farmers and Ranchers segments, Montana farmers and ranchers who have been using these principles to build soil health share practical information.
• Soil Health Rainfall Simulator Demonstration      video at a soil health field day near Joliet, September 2017.

Soil Health Information on Other Web Sites

• The ABCs of Soil Health story map
• Farmers.gov soil health Web page
• National Conference on Cover Crops and Soil Health. Broadcast of Opening Session and Presentations from conference held February 17-19, 2014 in Omaha, Nebraska.
• Out on the Land TV series Season 2 Episode 24 features soil quality and the use of cover crops in Montana. This video requires Flash Player. If you encounter any problems, please contact Webmaster at 406-587-6945.
• NRCS Soil Quality Technical Notes, Information Sheets, and Other Soil Health Information - This website contains a series of publications released by the former NRCS Soil Quality Institute.  These publications include technical notes, Guidelines for Soil Quality Assessment in Conservation Planning, the Soil Quality Thunderbook, and other materials for use by NRCS field staff during the conservation planning process.
• Soils 101 - This is a video series from NRCS South Carolina. Soils 101 is a compilation of fifteen videos featuring SC NRCS Soil Scientists. The videos include topics such as, What is Soil, Soil Physical Properties, Soil Biology, Soils for Conservationists, Soil Survey, and Soils for Homeowners. The videos were designed to help educate newer NRCS employees, give a refresher to seasoned NRCS employees, and to benefit anyone with an interest in soils.
• Soil Health Awareness - Unlock the Secrets in the Soil
  • Soil Health Theater - Ray, the Soil Guy, Soil Health Lessons in a Minute
  • Speaking for the Living Soils - Meet our Soil Health Spokespersons
  • Soil Health Fact Sheets
  • Healthy, Productive Soils Checklist
• National NRCS Soils Website
• Soil Biology Primer - The Soil Biology Primer is an introduction to the living component of soil and how it contributes to agricultural productivity as well as air and water quality.  The Primer includes units describing the soil food web and its relationship to soil health, and units about bacteria, fungi, protozoa, nematodes, arthropods, and earthworms.  It is suitable for a broad audience including farmers, ranchers, agricultural professionals, resource specialists, conservationists, soil scientists, students, and educators.
• Healthy Soils, Healthy Crops - A video series released by South Carolina that focus on soil health and some of the conservation practices that improve soil health, and activities that benefit from improved soil health. Precision agriculture is also highlighted.
• Videos Capture Value of No-till in Saving Soil Despite High Winds

Reading List: Books to Boost Your Soil Health Knowledge

• The USDA Sustainable Agriculture, Research and Education (SARE) program has made available publications that may be useful to conservationists, conservation partners, farmers, and others. The following two publications, while not specific to Montana, may provide useful information on cover crops and other soil improvement methods.
  • Building Soils for Better Crops, 3rd Edition
  • Managing Cover Crops Profitably, 3rd Edition

Looking for some enlightening fall reading? In September 2017, the Montana Soil and Water Conservation Society hosted a great tour to South and North Dakota to visit operations practicing regenerative (and profitable) agriculture. A question posed to Gabe Brown about books he reads and recommends spurred this list with a few additions made. Thanks to Marni Thompson for compiling. Here are a handful of books about soil health and regenerative agriculture to check out:

• Dirt - The Erosion of Civilizations by David Montgomery
• The Hidden Half of Nature: The Microbial Roots of Life and Health by David Montgomery
• Gaining Ground: A Story of Farmers' Markets, Local Food and Saving the Family Farm by Forrest Pritchard
• A Soil Owner's Manual: How to Restore and Maintain Soil Health by Jon Stika
• Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed by Jared Diamond
• The Dirt Cure: Healthy Food, Healthy Gut, Happy Child by Maya Shetreat-Klein, MD
• The Worst Hard Time: The Untold Story of Those Who Survived the Great American Dust Bowl by Timothy Egan
• Comeback Farms: Rejuvenating Soils, Pastures, and Profits with Livestock Grazing Management by Greg Judy
• You Can Farm: The Entrepreneur's Guide to Start and Succeed in a Farming Enterprise by Joel Salatin
• Managing Cover Crops Profitably, 3rd Edition      - SARE publication
• Soil Biology Primer by Ingham et al.

Gardening for Soil Health

Soil health principles do not only apply to conventional, large-scale farming. The ideas can be used at any scale, including market and home gardens. Many NRCS conservationists employ the principles in their own gardens. In addition to the resources above, they learn from the following sources. "All of these folks have ditched the rototiller and are soil health advocates that travel and do workshops on gardening/small scale farming with soil health principles," says Evan VanOrder, NRCS Soil Conservationist in Hardin, Montana.

• Teaming with Microbes by Jeff Lowenfels & Wayne Lewis
• Weedless Gardening by Lee Reich
• Charles Dowding has some excellent videos and books published on the “no-dig” method of gardening.
• Neversink Farm is a 1.5-acre market garden/farm that is pretty intensive and well-tuned to maximize production throughout the growing season.
• Singing Frog Farm is a 3-acre market farm using soil health principles.
• Jean Martin Fortier is a producer in Canada that has written some popular books and is farming using, as he calls it, “biologically intensive” methods.

Contact

Joyce Trevithick, State Agronomist
Phone: 406-587-6965
E-mail: Joyce.Trevithick