Can your soil pass “The slake test?”
Does your soil have good structure? Give it the slake test! Ray Archuleta, an agronomist with the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service with a passion for soil health, has done the test scores of times. Anyone can do it, he says, and he predicts it will open your eyes.
“What happens with poor soil structure is that the pores collapse in water and the soil breaks apart,” Archuleta says. “Soil with good structure—the untilled soil—can still be intact for the most part even 24 hours later. The reason for the difference is soil structure. Biological cementing, the work of soil microbes, glues the aggregates of the untilled soils together.”
In a similar test, an infiltration or rainfall simulation test, Archuleta puts the two soil samples in wire mesh inserted into empty jars, then simulates rainfall onto them.
“When you put a tilled soil and an un-tilled soil in yarn jars and simulate rainfall onto them, you quickly see the untilled soil allows the water to infiltrate the whole profile. On the other hand, water stays on top of the tilled soil much longer,” Archuleta says.
“I think these tests are powerful visual tools to help explain and help people remember how soils function” Archuleta continues. “I used to think if I tilled the soil—fluffed it up—it would allow more water in. But that’s just not true. Tilling soil closes pore space and keeps rainfall from infiltrating. You’ve got to have pore space in your soil from top to bottom.”
“The tests tell me in our watersheds we have an infiltration problem, not a runoff problem,” he concludes. “What I mean is, if we focus on building healthy soils that result in more infiltration, we’ll do what we need to do to eliminate much of the runoff.”
Watch Ray do the slake test in one minute: www.nrcs.usda.gov. To learn more about soil health, and to meet some of the farmers who are “Unlocking the Secrets in the Soil,” visit www.nrcs.usda.gov.
Does your soil have good structure? Give it the slake test! Ray Archuleta, an agronomist with the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service with a passion for soil health, has done the test scores of times. Anyone can do it, he says, and he predicts it will open your eyes.
“What happens with poor soil structure is that the pores collapse in water and the soil breaks apart,” Archuleta says. “Soil with good structure—the untilled soil—can still be intact for the most part even 24 hours later. The reason for the difference is soil structure. Biological cementing, the work of soil microbes, glues the aggregates of the untilled soils together.”
In a similar test, an infiltration or rainfall simulation test, Archuleta puts the two soil samples in wire mesh inserted into empty jars, then simulates rainfall onto them.
“When you put a tilled soil and an un-tilled soil in yarn jars and simulate rainfall onto them, you quickly see the untilled soil allows the water to infiltrate the whole profile. On the other hand, water stays on top of the tilled soil much longer,” Archuleta says.
“I think these tests are powerful visual tools to help explain and help people remember how soils function” Archuleta continues. “I used to think if I tilled the soil—fluffed it up—it would allow more water in. But that’s just not true. Tilling soil closes pore space and keeps rainfall from infiltrating. You’ve got to have pore space in your soil from top to bottom.”
“The tests tell me in our watersheds we have an infiltration problem, not a runoff problem,” he concludes. “What I mean is, if we focus on building healthy soils that result in more infiltration, we’ll do what we need to do to eliminate much of the runoff.”
Watch Ray do the slake test in one minute: www.nrcs.usda.gov. To learn more about soil health, and to meet some of the farmers who are “Unlocking the Secrets in the Soil,” visit www.nrcs.usda.gov.
If you are interested in having the Slake Test completed for your property but uncertain how to start.
Contact Melissa Ruschau at our office. She can come to your property and help you unlock the secrets of your soil!
Contact Melissa Ruschau at our office. She can come to your property and help you unlock the secrets of your soil!
