High pH Soils in Wisconsin: What you need to know

High soil pH does not have to derail your yield goals. With smart fertility planning, informed seed choices, and targeted nutrient management, Wisconsin farmers can manage high pH zones effectively.

An Overview of Common Soil Health Indicators

An overview of the following soil health indicators: Soil Organic Matter (SOM), Soil Organic Carbon (SOC), Potentially Mineralizable Carbon (MinC), Permanganate Oxidizable Carbon (POXC), Total Nitrogen (TN), Potentially Mineralizable Nitrogen (PMN), Autoclaved Citrate Extractable (ACE) Protein, and Aggregate Stability (AS).

▶ The Wisconsin Phosphorus Index

In this video, Hava Blair, researcher, UW–Madison Department of Soil and Environmental Sciences, presents an in-depth overview of the Wisconsin Phosphorus Index (P Index), a modeling tool used to estimate phosphorus runoff from agricultural fields to nearby surface waters.

▶ The Zone of Interaction: Exploring phosphorus stratification

In this video, Kelsey Hyland and Laura Paletta from UW–Madison Extension’s Ag Water Program explore phosphorus stratification in Wisconsin agricultural soils and its implications for water quality.

▶ How Deep Should You Plant Corn? The Critical Role of Seed Depth

Chris Clark and Landon Baumgartner, UW–Madison Extension Nutrient and Pest Management Team, discuss why getting seed depth right is the key to achieving uniform emergence and strong roots.

▶ Managing Nitrogen in Potato and Vegetable Crops

Dan Marzu, UW–Madison Extension Nutrient and Pest Management Outreach Specialist, and Guolong Liang, UW–Madison Extension Agriculture Water Quality Outreach Specialist, discuss managing nitrogen in potato and vegetable crops.

Soil Fertility Overview for Small Grain Production in Wisconsin: A one-stop shop

Nutrients are vital for crop development and yield outcomes, but they are also an input cost that should be optimized for profit; not yield alone. This document serves as a centralized resource containing soil fertility information for small grain crops.

▶ Manure Real-Time Nutrient Sensing Using a Near Infared Sensor System

An overview of Dr. Rebecca A. Larson’s research focused on real-time nutrient sensing in manure using a near-infrared (NIR) sensor system.

▶ Can Wisconsin Liquid Dairy Manure Provide Enough Micronutrients for Row Crops?

Chris Clark presents data from 29 years of manure samples, highlighting trends in micronutrient levels such as calcium, magnesium, sulfur, boron, copper, zinc, manganese, and iron and whether these levels are sufficient for common row crops.

▶ Manure Nitrogen Credits: What do we know, and what’s next?

Dr. Natasha Rayne discusses the concept of manure nitrogen credits and their importance in agricultural nutrient management, how nitrogen credits are calculated, the variability in nitrogen content across different types of manure, and the factors affecting nitrogen availability.

Why Test Your Soil Health?

In this article, we present some foundational considerations related to soil health testing and describe situations where soil health testing can provide useful information about specific soil functions to farmers, landowners, agronomists, and crop consultants.