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Understanding soil data is crucial for making informed management decisions. However, soil health outcomes are determined by many variables, and the science surrounding soil health measurements is ever evolving. This makes it difficult to present soil data in an easy-to-understand way. Enter {soils}, a new R package developed to effectively visualize and describe soil health data.
We are pleased that Dr. Luis Reyes Rojas has joined the WaSHI team as of March 1 to work on the State of the Soils Assessment project. Luis is a soil pedologist with significant expertise in pedometrics (the use of statistical and mathematical approaches to understand why soils developed how and where they did)
2023 marked significant progress in soil health, including increased funding for soil health practice adoption and advancements in soil research. This trend was not exclusive to the broader field of soil health but extended to Washington Soil Health Initiative (WaSHI) projects.
Review some of the most read articles and most viewed videos about soil health from WaSHI.
Intercropping is frequently done in row crops, with two or more crops planted together. The Kesler’s have adopted the practice to improve their grass hay pasture. Intercropping benefits the soil by utilizing multiple species that provide different resources and nutrient demands and input than the main crop.
Members of the wine and juice grape community are heavily involved in this long-term research project, leading to collaborations with scientists, extension specialists, commercial wine and juice grape growers, crop advisors, viticulturists, vineyard managers, and others.
Just like his dad, my three-and-a-half-year-old boy loves the garden and all the things we grow in it. A favorite part of my job is the opportunity to put my boots in the fields of my home area and when I get to bring my boy Jack along for an “aventure,” as he would say.
As written, the CCA exempts agriculture from many of its rules. This includes the requirements to report GHG emissions, and to participate in the quarterly cap-and-invest auctions in which Washington businesses must purchase the right to emit GHGs. Nevertheless, agriculture is still substantially impacted by the law’s economic and environmental effects. In fact, the CCA has ushered in many benefits and challenges to Washington agriculture since its launch on January 1st, 2023.
Who will you be sitting next to?
You may know that it is difficult to increase soil organic matter, but how difficult is it, with numbers? Let’s do some rough calculations so you know what to expect. The task is difficult, but the math is easy, I promise.
This is one of only a handful of state programs in the U.S. helping agricultural producers be part of the climate solution and achieve co-benefits such as improving soil health.