Not everyone knows that plant roots have symbiotic relationships with certain types of fungi. These mycorrhizae help the plant absorb nutrients from the soil that are otherwise difficult to obtain and often provide some protection against soil-borne diseases. In exchange the plant suppliesfood to the fungus. To learn more about mycorrhizae, read this article...

The rhizosphere is the narrow region of soil or substrate that is directly influenced by root secretions and associated soil microorganisms known as the root microbiome. Soil pores in the rhizosphere can contain many bacteria and other microorganisms that feed on sloughed-off plant cells, termed rhizodeposition, and the proteins and sugars released by roots, termed root exudates. This symbiosis leads to more complex interactions, influencing plant growth and competition for resources. Much of the nutrient cycling and disease suppression by antibiotics required by plants, occurs immediately adjacent to roots due to root exudates and metabolic products of symbiotic and pathogenic communities of microorganisms. The rhizosphere also provides space to produce allelochemicals to control neighbours and relatives.

Improving producer profitability, soil health and water quality by partnering with nature.

Soil Ecology studies bringing critical soil functions of natural systems into agriculture, such as nutrient retention, carbon sequestration, and soil regeneration.

When it comes to carbon sequestration payments, the major frustration we hear from many no-tillers is that they don’t believe they’ll be accepted due to the “additionality” requirements of some programs.

NIFA's Small Business Innovation Research and Small Business Technology Transfer programs offer competitively awarded grants to qualified small businesses to support high quality research related to important scientific problems and opportunities in agriculture that could lead to significant public benefits. In this webinar, program staff will provide an overview of the program’s Phase II and discuss details included in the Request for Applications (RFA). Time will be reserved to respond to audience questions.  NIFA's Small Business Innovation Research and Small Business Technology Transfer programs offer competitively awarded grants to qualified small businesses to support high quality research related to important scientific problems and opportunities in agriculture that could lead to significant public benefits.  The programs’ Phase II funding opportunity, which is only open to previous Phase I awardees who have not already applied for a Phase II grant, focuses on continuing the research and development undertaken in Phase I with a goal of commercialization — bringing the innovation to market as the Phase II project completes.   In this webinar, program staff will provide an overview of the programs' Phase II and discuss details included in the Request for Applications (RFA). Time will be reserved to respond to audience questions.  Register for Webinar Program Contacts  David Songstad, National Program Leader, david.songstad@usda.gov  Melinda Coffman, Program Coordinator, melinda.coffman@usda.gov  Nurun Nahar, Program Specialist, nurun.nahar@usda.gov   Tammi Neville, Program Specialist, tammi.neville@usda.gov  If you need a reasonable accommodation to participate in this meeting, please contact the SBIR/STTR Office at sbir@usda.gov no later than February 8. Language access services, such as interpretation or translation of vital information, will be provided free of charge to limited English proficient individuals upon request.

In this section: Papers & Publications Published research related the NEON project. If you would like us to add a paper, please contact us at neonscience@BattelleEcology.org

Many times in life, we do not appreciate something until we lose it. And I always took for granted growing healthy plants until I came to West Texas. Understanding what our soil is lacking has caused me to do much research in the area of composting and soil biology. It has also motivated me to […]

Biome Makers' launches new online shop for Biological Soil Tests. Farmers and advisors can now order BeCrop® Test, an advanced biological soil test, directly from Biome Makers' website. This new element of eCommerce simplifies BeCrop® Test purchases with a quick and easy process and informs farmers and advisors about their soil's health before the next growing season.

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced today that USDA will invest an additional $325 million for 71 projects in the second Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities funding pool.

This visualization was created using data from the Gridded National Soil Survey Geographic Database via Microsoft’s Planetary Computer. Related blog

pstrong class="journal-contentHeaderColor"Abstract./strong We present methods to evaluate the spatial patterns of the geographic distribution of soil properties in the USA, as shown in gridded maps produced by digital soil mapping (DSM) at global (SoilGrids v2), national (Soil Properties and Class 100 m Grids of the USA), and regional (POLARIS soil properties) scales and compare them to spatial patterns known from detailed field surveys (gNATSGO and gSSURGO). The methods are illustrated with an example, i.e. topsoil pH for an area in central New York state. A companion report examines other areas, soil properties, and depth intervals. A set of R Markdown scripts is referenced so that readers can apply the analysis for areas of their interest. For the test case, we discover and discuss substantial discrepancies between DSM products and large differences between the DSM products and legacy field surveys. These differences are in whole-map statistics, visually identifiable landscape features, level of detail, range and strength of spatial autocorrelation, landscape metrics (Shannon diversity and evenness, shape, aggregation, mean fractal dimension, and co-occurrence vectors), and spatial patterns of property maps classified by histogram equalization. Histograms and variogram analysis revealed the smoothing effect of machine learning models. Property class maps made by histogram equalization were substantially different, but there was no consistent trend in their landscape metrics. The model using only national points and covariates was not substantially different from the global model and, in some cases, introduced artefacts from a lithology covariate. Uncertainty (5 %–95 % confidence intervals) provided by SoilGrids and POLARIS were unrealistically wide compared to gNATSGO/gSSURGO low and high estimated values and show substantially different spatial patterns. We discuss the potential use of the DSM products as a (partial) replacement for field-based soil surveys. There is no substitute for actually examining and interpreting the soil–landscape relation, but despite the issues revealed in this study, DSM can be an important aid to the soil surveyor./p

Advancing Eco Agriculture provides agronomic support and nutritional programs customized for specific crops and soil types to increase profits with regenerative agriculture

Science, consumers, and regulatory agencies are pushing these crop inputs to the forefront of the industry.

Diggin’ in with Concept AgriTek is a new conversation for an age-old solution: soil! In this new series of podcasts, we sit down with some of the most engaging thought-leaders in agriculture to explore new research and applications in soil health and productivity. We’re diggin’ in to learn more about the Rhizophagy Cycle, microbiome function, Haney testing and putting those test results to work.

Farmers used to plant "cover crops" to rejuvenate fields in the off season. When those were replaced with chemicals, the soil suffered.

This webinar presents case studies that bring to light the crucial insights provided by BeCrop technology, used to develop effective strategies for promoting soil health with a special focus on minimizing disease with early risk detection.

With growing populations and climate change, assuring food and nutrition security is an increasingly challenging task. Climate-smart and sustainable agriculture, that is, conceiving agriculture to be resistant and resilient to a changing climate while keeping it viable in the long term, is probably the best solution. The role of soil biota and particularly arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi in this new agriculture is believed to be of paramount importance. However, the large nutrient pools and the microbiota of subsoils are rarely considered in the equation. Here we explore the potential contributions of subsoil AM fungi to a reduced and more efficient fertilization, carbon sequestration, and reduction of greenhouse gas emissions in agriculture. We discuss the use of crop rotations and cover cropping with deep rooting mycorrhizal plants, and low-disturbance management, as means of fostering subsoil AM communities. Finally, we suggest future research goals that would allow us to maximize these benefits.

Agricultural soils are a significant source of anthropogenic nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions, because of fertilizer application and decomposition of crop residues. We studied interactions between nitrogen (N) amendments and soil conditions in a 2-year field experiment with or without catch crop incorporation before seeding of spring barley, and with or without application of N in the form of digested liquid manure or mineral N fertilizer. Weather conditions, soil inorganic N dynamics, and N2O emissions were monitored during spring, and soil samples were analyzed for abundances of nitrite reduction (nirK and nirS) and N2O reduction genes (nosZ clade I and II), and structure of nitrite- and N2O-reducing communities. Fertilization significantly enhanced soil mineral N accumulation compared to treatments with catch crop residues as the only N source. Nitrous oxide emissions, in contrast, were stimulated in rotations with catch crop residue incorporation, probably as a result of concurrent net N mineralization, and O2 depletion associated with residue degradation in organic hotspots. Emissions of N2O from digested manure were low in both years, while emissions from mineral N fertilizer were nearly absent in the first year, but comparable to emissions from catch crop residues in the second year with higher precipitation and delayed plant N uptake. Higher gene abundances, as well as shifts in community structure, were also observed in the second year, which were significantly corre...

Straw returns to the soil is an effective way to improve soil organic carbon and reduce air pollution by straw burning, but this may increase CH4 and N2O emissions risks in paddy soils. Biochar has been used as a soil amendment to improve soil fertility and mitigate CH4 and N2O emissions. However, little is known about their interactive effect on CH4 and N2O emissions and the underlying microbial mechanisms. In this study, a 2-year pot experiment was conducted on two paddy soil types (an acidic Utisol, TY, and an alkaline Inceptisol, BH) to evaluate the influence of straw and biochar applications on CH4 and N2O emissions, and on related microbial functional genes. Results showed that straw addition markedly increased the cumulative CH4 emissions in both soils by 4.7- to 9.1-fold and 23.8- to 72.4-fold at low (S1) and high (S2) straw input rate, respectively, and significantly increased mcrA gene abundance. Biochar amendment under the high straw input (BS2) significantly decreased CH4 emissions by more than 50% in both soils, and increased both mcrA gene and pmoA gene abundances, with greatly enhanced pmoA gene and a decreased mcrA/pmoA gene ratio. Moreover, methanotrophs community changed distinctly in response to straw and biochar amendment in the alkaline BH soil, but showed slight change in the acidic TY soil. Straw had little effect on N2O emissions at low input rate (S1) but significantly increased N2O emissions at the high input rate (S2). Biochar amendment showed in...

In many parts of the world, agricultural ecosystems are increasingly exposed to severe drought, and rainfall events due to climate changes. This coincides with a higher vulnerability of crops to soil-borne diseases, which is mostly ascribed to decreased resistance to pathogen attacks. However, loss of the natural capacity of soil microbes to suppress soil-borne plant pathogens may also contribute to increased disease outbreaks. In this perspectives paper, we will discuss the effect of extreme weather events on pathogen-antagonist interactions during drought and rainfall events and upon recovery. We will focus on diseases caused by root-infecting fungi and oomycetes. In addition, we will explore factors that affect restoration of the balance between pathogens and other soil microbes. Finally, we will indicate potential future avenues to improve the resistance and/or recovery of natural biocontrol during, and after water stresses. As such, our perspective paper will highlight a knowledge gap that needs to be bridged to adapt agricultural ecosystems to changing climate scenarios.