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A good study, Manure, crop residue & Building soil O.M.
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IDAGCON
Posted 12/1/2011 01:07 (#2078140 - in reply to #2077855)
Subject: RE: A good study, Manure, crop residue & Building soil O.M.


SW Idaho		Soil Life...Question about Organic Matter. Is it possible that the crop residues and manure applied in this test would be more of an "unstable" OM and therefore not accurately reflected by the soil test? Also, how is OM measured in a soil test? My understanding is that what is measured in a soil test would come from what the author of this article describes as the "really dead" portion of OM which has taken a very long time to form, is very "stable", and therefore is very hard to break down via tillage and soil microbes.

Here is why I ask...

In my area (Id/Or Border) conventional tillage is practiced by 95% of growers because of our soils (7.5-8.8 pH, 1-2%OM, High Calcium) and root crops (onions, beets, spuds). Historically soil OM was never high to begin with because of the area and high desert soils. Due to the tillage practices, and soil erosion from gravity irrigation it is hard to imagine too many scenarios where we can build OM without changing production practices. With that said, quite a few growers incorporate manure/compost in their programs and quite a few crops are grown where residues are turned back into the soil and we continue to mineralize a very high level of nutrients (especially N) year after year when the soils warm up. This got me thinking that maybe there could be more OM in the soil that what is coming back in the soil tests, but maybe it is just in an "unstable" form and therefore unmeasured.

Thoughts?
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