Wilkin County Soil Health Demonstration Site (2024)
Vance Johnson/Kimberly Melton
The Wilkin SWCD Soil Health Demonstration Site will showcase a side-by-side field trial of how no-till, strip-till and conventional tillage works in our clay loam soil. We will then cover the north half of each 20-acre tillage treatment with cover crops, so we also have a side-by-side cover crops vs no cover crops scenario as we monitor how the soil transitions from 40 plus years of conventional tillage to a no-till, strip-till scenario covered in cover crops. Our hope is to demonstrate how the soil handles each tillage treatment with and without cover crops to help decrease the risk of adding climate smart practices to our farming operations in our clayey soils.
Goals & Objectives
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.
The Wilkin SWCD Soil Health Demonstration Site is a 60ac. field that is split into three different tillage management systems. These three management systems are then split into cover crop and no cover crop. Environmental Tillage Solutions has donated the use of their strip-till machine for the length of the project. All other implements are owned by Vance Johnson, and he will be the operator of this field. The same cash crop will be planted across the tillage treatments in a four-crop rotation. This will be year three of a five-year project. The cash crop will be corn.
NRCS will be observing soil temperatures along with sampling and analyzing the soil properties. They haveinstalled soil temperature probes at 2″ and 4″ depths in each plot. Every fall they will complete a soil healthanalysis checking the infiltration rate, compaction, structure and biology of the soil along with collecting soil for labanalysis. Ward Lab will be running the Haney, PLFA and S101 tests. Cornell Lab will be used for their StandardPlus Soil Health Package. Each of these tests will be run a total of 18 times, three per plot, for a completeevaluation of the soil.
MDA will be collecting and analyzing the data from soil moisture probes that are installed at 12” and 24” depths.
With the help of Mehmet Ozturk, UofM, we have purchased dust collectors and will be monitoring how much soil erosion is taking place in each of the six plots. We will also send the soil off for analysis to see if we are losing nutrients with this erosion. They will be installed after the crop comes off in the fall and be collected monthly until the crop gets tall enough to prevent erosion, in the summer. NRCS, UofM, and Wilkin SWCD are assisting with this data.
Vance Johnson is documenting the economics behind each plot. He will share the income and expense per plot per year.
