On-farm Soil Quality Testing in Organic, Integrated, and Conventional Peach Orchard Systems

Soil quality problems such as erosion, depleted soil organic matter, nutrient reserves and reduced water holding capacity are of increasing concern to farmers in the Intermountain West. Marginal soils require more amendments and fertilizers to meet crop needs. As input costs rise and water resources are increasingly limited, effective methods of evaluating soil quality and fertility is of growing importance. Soil quality testing is not routine on commercial farms, as current recommendations are time consuming and confusing to interpret. Standard commercial tests typically quantify soil nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, pH and salinity. These factors alone are not sufficient to predict the long term effect of management practices on soil quality. This study will determine the accuracy, efficiency and the ease of using simple chemical, biological, and physical soil quality indicator tests that can be completed on-site. Indicative on-site soil tests will be used to measure aggregate stability, water infiltration, decomposition rates, macroflora, macronutrients, and pH, and then compared to comparable lab analyses. The trend in enhancement or degradation of soil quality by current management practices will be estimated. Soil samples will be collected from two experimental peach orchards located on the Utah State University Research farm in Kaysville, Utah. The orchards consist of 12 replicated orchard floor treatments with documented differences in soil quality. The goal of this study is to increase the participatory role of farmers in the maintenance and health of their soils, which could potentially reduce nutrient overload, soil erosion and degradation of ecosystem services on and off-site.