Farmers who want a profitable yield should engage in practices that enhance soil health. People have discovered numerous ways to bolster important nutrients, control weeds, prevent erosion and put organic matter back into the soil.
Properly maintaining soil can help you during your next harvest and for years to come.
How Can Farmers Improve Soil Health?
Improving soil quality for farming is vital for maximizing your crop yield each harvest. Good soil health allows your plants to grow and flourish in all the right ways. Improving and maintaining your farm’s soil health is simple when you use the four biodiversity promoting techniques below.
1. Use Cover Crops
Crop cover in the off-season is an essential task farmers can use to improve soil health. Cover crops help reduce the risk of erosion during months when you are not planting your harvest. Many cover crops are also known to produce biomass, which can help with organic matter levels.
Another benefit of using cover crops for soil health is reducing compaction and stabilizing the soil. Some cover crops will also add nitrogen to your land. There are numerous types of cover crops for different climates, seasons and goals, and they can all help improve your farm’s soil health.
2. Add Organic Matter
There are a handful of ways to enhance the input of organic matter in your soil, one of which is cover crops. Healthy crops throughout the year are another way to increase organic matter. They can leave crop residue that can be returned to the soil.
Other ways to add organic matter to the soil on your farm include adding manure or compost. Rotational grazing can also help add organic matter to your farm.
3. Reduce Tillage
While you might need tillage for your farm operations, you want to ensure you do it only for the recommended amounts. Over tillage can be harmful to the soil, so knowing when yours has had enough is beneficial. When you reduce how much you till the soil, you slow microbial activity because less oxygen is entering. The oxygen and microbial activity start decomposition, changing organic matter levels.
If you can reduce how often you till or avoid it altogether, you help keep soil in a prime, healthy state.
4. Rotate Crops
When you take turns planting different crops each season, you increase biodiversity. Crop rotation can help diminish pests and diseases in the soil. It assists with weed control and reducing excess nutrients. A biodiverse farm brings pollinators to your crops and creates a better habitat for helpful organisms.
Crop rotation can also reduce soil erosion.
Enhance Your Soil’s Health Today
If you want to increase the health and yield of your crops every season, using the above techniques can help. Healthy soil saves time and makes operations more efficient because it allows you to plant and harvest crops effectively.
Rotate your crops, till less, increase organic matter and use cover crops for improved soil health today. If you’re looking for farm equipment like sprayers or mulch layers, find a CropCare® dealer near you.