Soil
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Soil pH is an important chemical property because it influences the availability of soil nutrients for plant uptake, and it affects a crop’s root system development. Soil pH also indicates whether lime is needed to correct toxicities caused by aluminum and manganese, or to increase calcium levels in the soil. A new method measures the buffering capacity directly.
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Soil test extractants are chemical solutions used to dissolve or exchange nutrients in soil samples. They are used when performing soil analyses to determine nutrient recommendations.
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Proper use of treated industrial wastes contributes to the circular economy and reduces wastes that would have been disposed of in landfills or by incineration. This publication clarifies Georgia’s legal definition of “soil amendments” and highlights current policies governing the application of processed wastes on farm lands in Georgia. Compliance with these regulations maintains a quality environment in Georgia and ensures the long-term sustainability of manufacturing and food processing industries.
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Developing and maintaining productive soils begin with soil testing. Soils tests provide information on the soil’s actual nutrient status. Test results are used to determine the amount and kind of nutrients that should be added for the best growth of lawn, garden, and other types of plants.
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C 1299
Soil Organic Matter
Soil organic matter (SOM) is a complex mixture of plant and animal tissues, and plays an important role in the physical, chemical, and biological processes in the soil. This publication describes how SOM contributes to overall soil fertility, factors controlling SOM abundance, and what cultivation practices growers can use to increase SOM in their soils.
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This publication provides information on selecting an optimal soil sampling grid size that can accurately depict spatial nutrient variability within the fields in the southeastern US and helps in informing precision site-specific nutrient applications.
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Whether from a local store, regional supplier, or another farmer down the road, understanding where your soil amendments come from and how they were handled prior to reaching your farm or garden is necessary to ensure you are sourcing the highest quality product with the lowest amount of risk.
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Conservation tillage with agronomic crops (i.e., cotton, corn, soybeans, etc.) has been successful in Georgia production. Such production practices have several benefits, the most notable being the elimination of soil erosion. Other benefits include but aren’t limited to increases in soil organic matter, maintaining a healthy rhizosphere (root-zone soil), reduction of riparian and waterway pollution, and water conservation.
Some examples of conservation tillage practices include no till, ridge till, and strip till. No–till production involves no tillage of field soils and leaves all of the previous crop residue on the soil surface. Ridge–till production involves building a ridge during cultivation, then scalping the ridge and sowing seed. The scalping process moves most of the previous–crop residue to the row middles, leaving a clean row for sowing. Strip–till production is when a narrow strip is tilled for each row that will be planted, leaving the row middles intact with the previous–crop residue. Strip–tillage may reduce yields if weeds in the untilled area are not killed, as these weeds will compete with the crop for water and nutrients. Although the planted row is free of previous crop residue, it may be advantageous to kill the cover crop to prevent it from competing for nutrients and water with the vegetable crop.
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