Wilkin County Soil Health Demonstration Site (2024)

Vance Johnson/Kimberly Melton

To better understand how implementing soil health practices (such as cover crops and reduced/no tillage) impact soil health.

Goal 1 (Management Systems): Establish a minimum of six demonstration plots to compare the impacts of conventional tillage, strip-tillage and no-tillage, with and without cover crops, on soil health.
Goal 2 (Monitor & Measure): Annually monitor the physical, chemical, and biological properties of the soil within every plot to measure soil health changes/trends.
Goal 3 (Economics): Quantify and communicate the risks and returns, for each management system, to help farmers better understand input costs and profits for each.
Goal 4 (Education): Hold a minimum of one field day annually for the public to increase adoption of soil health promoting practices.
Goal 5 (Information Gaps): Work with soil health researchers and agency partners to identify research gaps and incorporate activities/measures where practical and feasible.