Soil health and conservation
Hatfield, J.L., Blanco-Canqui, H., Morgan, C.L.S. & Reimer, A. Journal of Soil and Water Conservation. 80 (4) 313-319. https://doi.org/10.1080/00224561.2025.2543698
This is another article on soil health in this special edition on soil health of this journal. One question raised is "What is soil health"? Also how does one describe it to non-soil scientists and why it is so important to everyone? The authors of this paper who organized this series of papers on soil health share their thoughts and own opinions on soil health in this paper. The conclude by saying "Our goal is that each of you will be enriched by the articles in this issue and the impact of soil health on conservation and the future of our ecosystem."
In-season temporal variability of soil carbon and nitrogen pools after half a century of a tillage and crop rotation gradient.
Gonzalez-Maldo, N., Deiss, L., Ali, F. & Culman, S.W. 2025. Soil & Tillage Research. 252. Article 106566. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.still.2025.106566
This paper from Ohio State University's Triplett-Van Doren long-term tillage and crop rotation experiment (one of the oldest NT experiments in the World) looked at the temporal dynamics of soil N and C pools in a maize growing season, in a 55-year-old tillage and crop rotation experiment. Tillage treatments were no-till (NT) + residue, Chisel-till (CT) + 30% residue and moldboard till (MT) - residue incorporated. There were 3 rotations: continuous maize, maize-soybean (2-year rotation), and maize-forage-forage (3-year rotation). Their results suggest that crop diversification with perennials enhances soil C and N; NT has stronger effects in clay loam than silt-loam soils; and although C and N pools vary seasonally, long-term management effects persist throughout the growing season.
Soil organic matter: The heart of soil health.
Lal, R. 2025. Journal of Soil and Water Conservation. 80 (4) 320-326. https://doi.org/10.1080/00224561.2025.2572280
This paper talks about the role of soil as a basis for all terrestrial life as well as ecosystem services for nature and mankind. It is essential to protect, restore and manage soils in a sustainable way so that soil health is maintained and improved. This will require humans working together, including the various stakeholders in the public, private, scientific and extension groups but also policies to make sure the soil is a protected resource.
Cover Crops and Sustainable Agriculture.
Islam, K.R. & Sherman, B. (Editors). 2021. Taylor and Francis Group, Boca Raton, Florida. 326 pages and 18 chapters. https://doi.org/10.1201/9781003187301
I included this book that was published in 2021 because it deals with the role of cover crops that are becoming more popular in modern agriculture and used in sustainable agriculture like conservation agriculture to provide the essential surface mulch needed to make no-till systems productive. This book is an encyclopedia of cover crop management by 2021. Papers in the 18 chapters indicate the long-term benefits for soil health, structure, water quality, nutrient contributions, soil biodiversity, air quality and climate change. The book looks at the "whys" as well as the "hows" for different locations and how to terminate them when needed. As part of a continuous no-till system, cover crops provide long-term biological, chemical and structural benefits. The resulting increase in soil organic matter means the agronomic crop yields benefit from better water infiltration and water holding capacity, greater availability of nitrogen and other nutrients, deeper rooting, and increased soil microbial activity in the root zone.
Soil health and disturbance-based classification of farming systems.
Montgomery, D.R. 2025. Journal of Soil and Water Conservation. 80 (4) 327-338. https://doi.org/10.1080/00224561.2025.2506335
This is one of several papers on the importance of soil health in modern agriculture, especially for securing future food security written by a renowned soil scientist. He talks about a disturbance-based classification of agricultural systems that includes tillage and chemical use: does the system allow , minimize or avoid physical or chemical disturbance in soil ecosystems and do these systems help with reversing the degradation of soil and its health? This paper discusses conventional, organic, no-till, regenerative, and regenerative organic farming in terms of physical and chemical disturbance.
Chapter 11. Cover Crop Mixes for Diversity, Carbon and Conservation Agriculture.
Reicosky, D.C., Calegari, A., Rheinheimer dos Santos, D. & Tiecher, T. 2021. In. Cover Crops and and Sustainable Agriculture. Taylor and Francis Group, Boca Raton, Florida. pages 169-208. https://doi.org/10.1201/9781003187301-11
This is a chapter from the Cover Crops and Sustainable Agriculture book listed next that is devoted to cover crop use in conservation agriculture. This chapter looks at the issue of an expanding global population (10 billion by 2050) with a traditional farming system that uses intensive tillage and monoculture that is slowly degrading the soil, the environment and the ability to feed the future population, especially as climate change adds a further challenge for food production. This chapter provides information on cover crop mixes that are relevant for conservation agriculture to not only improve the benefits of a surface residue mulch needed for no-till systems but also a way to improve soil health vital for sustainable agriculture and future food security.
Soil Organic Carbon Sequestration and Distribution, Soil Biological Characteristics, and Winter Wheat Yields Under Different Tillage Practices in Long-Term Field Experiment.
Muhlbachova, G., Kusa, H., Ruzek, P., Vavera, R. & Kas, M. 2025. Agronomy-Basel 15 (4) Article 947. https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy15040947
This long-term field experiment with Winter wheat looked at 3 tillage systems: conventional (CT), reduced (RT), and No-till (NT) since 1995. They collected data on SOC, microbial biomass, and enzymatic activity in four-year crop rotation periods from 2005-2024. There were 3 rotations: winter oil seed rape, winter wheat, pea, and winter wheat.Data was collected from 3 crop depths: 0-10, 10-20, and 20-30 cm. Residues were incorporated in CT, partially in RT and left as surface mulch in NT. Results showed that NT had the highest C-sequestration followed by RT and CT. The weather conditions during the year (abundance of precipitation) influenced crop yields significantly more than the tillage practices with wheat yields and N in grain the highest in CT followed by RT and lowest in NT. NT treatments increased the organic carbon and microbial activity in soils.
