b'MILES DYCK HAS a novel way of thinking about soilits just like theto get an assessment of the health of the soil. Its not enough for them to get human body. values for soil propertiestheyre looking for an interpretation of what they An associate professor of soil science at the University of Alberta inmean with respect to soil health, he says.Edmonton, Alta., Dyck was speaking at the Alberta Potato Conference in No- Dyck believes in order for soil health to be accurately assessed and tracked vember about soil heath, a term referring to the soils capacity to function as aover time, benchmarks and standardized indices need to be established, much dynamic, living ecosystem, sustaining plant, animal and human life, when helike how a doctor will compare your most recent blood test to your past results made his comparison. or to accepted health standards. For example, the soil structure, the arrangement of particles within the soilThis could change though, as a new soil health initiative is looking at Soil Health is like the bones and muscles which provide structure for our bodies, he said.making it a reality. The soil solutionwater containing dissolved solids, gases and nutrients present in the soilsupports the growth of plants and microorganisms,SOIL HEALTH STUDYjust like how blood transports nutrients to human tissues and organs. AndThe North American-wide initiative was launched last year in response to the microorganisms in the soil serve a vital decomposition/decontaminationwhat many view as a significant barrier to adopting soil health practices and function, much like the microflora in our bodies digesting food and facilitatingsystemsthe lack of a widely applicable package of measurements and removal of waste products. methods for evaluating soil health.Using a medical analogy Dyck took the idea even further, explaining howAs part of the initiative, a study is being done by the Soil Health Institute, when you go in for an annual check-up, doctors use blood tests and othera non-profit organization based in Morrisville, N.C., dedicated to improving diagnostic tools to help decide whether to give you a clean bill of health or ifsoil health and productivity through scientific research and development. The theres something requiring further treatment. The same kind of approach, hestudy is aiming to help the agriculture industry adopt standardized meas-believes, could be used to assess the state of soil health in a farmers field. urements to evaluate and improve soil health while expanding education and In an interview with Spud Smart, Dyck says he thinks the current acceptedtools for farmers, agronomists, scientists and ag policy makers.soil properties associated with soil quality could be interpreted more holisti- As part of the study, soil samples were gathered from 120 long-term cally to provide a well-rounded picture of soil healthviewed by many as aagricultural research sites in Canada, the U.S. and Mexico in 2019. The sam-critical component of a productive and sustainable agricultural system. ples are now being analysed and assessed according to a set of soil health Ive heard from farmers that when they send in a soil sample, they wantindicators devised by a panel of experts for the Soil Health Institute. The 31 SPRING 2020 SPUDSMART.COM 29'