SMAF: A Soil Health Assessment Tool

Authors

D. L. Karlen, USDA-Agricultural Research ServiceFollow
C. D. Nance, USDA-Agricultural Research Service
D. L. Dinnes, USDA-Agricultural Research Service
D. W. Meek, USDA-Agricultural Research Service

Document Type

Research

Keywords

Soil Management Assessment Framework (SMAF), sustainable soil management, soil health

Abstract

The Soil Management Assessment Framework (SMAF) was developed to help quantify soil quality/health effects of tillage, crop rotation, and other soil management practices. Our objective was to determine if the SMAF could detect soil health differences after growing a single winter triticale (X Triticosecale Wittmack) crop. Soil samples were collected from 0 to 7.5- and 7.5 to 15- cm depth increments during the 2003 – 2004 and 2004 – 2005 growing seasons near Ames and Lewis, IA, and analyzed for several potential soil quality indicators. The SMAF analysis showed higher soil quality ratings for surface than subsurface samples. It also showed that a single winter grain crop can significantly improve soil quality after either corn (Zea mays L.) or soybean (Glycine max [L.] Merr.). Finally, in response to increasing interest in soil health assessments, a detailed appendix is attached to provide guidance for future soil health assessments.

Publication Date

2013

Journal Title

Journal of the Iowa Academy of Sciences

Volume

120

Issue

1-4

First Page

1

Last Page

13

Copyright

© Copyright 2013 by the Iowa Academy of Science, Inc.

Language

en

File Format

application/pdf

Recommended Citation

Karlen, D. L.; Nance, C. D.; Dinnes, D. L.; and Meek, D. W. (2013) "SMAF: A Soil Health Assessment Tool," Journal of the Iowa Academy of Science: JIAS, 120(1-4), 1-13.
Available at: https://scholarworks.uni.edu/jias/vol120/iss1/2