Farmers, conservationists, hobbyist growers, and agricultural professionals visited the WSU research and extension center in Mount Vernon last week where WSU researchers shared their latest research regarding soil health in Washington, as part of a Soil Health Field Day.
Soil health is foundational to healthy crops and ecosystems, at the ‘SoilCon’ Field Day, stakeholders toured a research field plot located at the Northwestern Research & Extension Center called a Long-Term Agroecological Research Experiment site or LTARE. The LTARE plot at Mount Vernon is one of several throughout the state, which together establish a network that measures and observes a number of soil health indicators and their impact to different crops throughout the state’s diverse agroecological climates.
Over 900 soil samples were collected throughout Washington as part of the state’s Soil Health Initiative which helped inform and organize the LTARE plots. Attendees participated in tutorials on the soil sampling, including a demonstration with a rainfall simulator that visualizes the movement of water on soils containing different crop systems.
The field day also featured an overview on biochar development and utilization methods, as well as a demonstration of no-till seeding methods and discussions on the significance of cover cropping and compost usage on soil health.
The Soil Health Initiative is a partnership between the Washington State Department of Agriculture, Washington State University, and the State Conservation Commission to create a unified approach to strengthening and maintaining healthy soil in Washington. The field day showcased the partnership’s effort to provide science-based technical assistance and policy support to improve soil health in Washington’s various regions and cropping systems.