Soil Health Principle #1: Keep soil covered
In nature, bare soil is an anomaly. Cover is critical to protect soil from wind and water erosion, provide food and habitat for macro- and microorganisms, buffer soil temperature, cut down on evaporation and make the most out of scarce water resources. Grow living plants year round or protect the soil by applying mulch or keeping plant residue on the ground.
How to apply this principle:
Adaptive grazing, bale grazing, compost, cover cropping, crop rotations, earthworks, hedgerows & windbreaks, no-till or conservation tillage, mulch, perennials, pollinator plantings
Soil Health Principle #2: Minimize soil disturbance on cropland & minimize external inputs
Both physical and chemical disturbance can harm soil life, therefore synthetic fertilizers, herbicides, pesticides, and fungicides should be avoided as much as possible. Alternatively, compost boosts soil health, promoting stronger plants and resilience towards disease, and supporting soil microbes that feed directly on parasites.
Tillage destroys soil structure, including aggregates and pore spaces that allow water to infiltrate the soil, leading to erosion. On rangeland however, carefully timed disturbance by herd animals can have a positive effect, helping to disperse seed, collect rainwater and fertilize the ground.
How to apply this principle:
Adaptive grazing, biochar, compost, cover cropping, crop rotations, earthworks, hedgerows & windbreaks, inoculants, no-till or conservation tillage, perennials
Soil Health Principle #3: Maximize biodiversity.
Diversity above ground is mirrored below. Each animal, plant, or insect plays a role in maintaining soil health. Together they provide a varied diet for soil microorganisms, break disease cycles and create habitat for wildlife and pollinators. Nature does not know monocultures! On rangeland, adaptive grazing* can restore species diversity on rangeland, enhancing ecosystem function and resilience.
How to apply this principle:
Adaptive grazing, biochar, cover cropping, companion planting, crop rotations, hedgerows & windbreaks, inoculants, perennials, pollinator plantings, wildlife habitat
Soil Health Principle #4: Maintain living roots
Soil organisms cluster around roots, where they exchange nutrients with plants. Those living roots provide their basic food source: carbon. In turn, the soil microbiome fuels the plant nutrient cycle. To ensure roots in the ground year-round, plant perennials or multi-species cover crops, or encourage a variety of warm and cool season grasses through adaptive grazing.
How to apply this principle:
Adaptive grazing, cover cropping, crop rotations, earthworks, hedgerows & windbreaks, no-till or conservation tillage, perennials, pollinator plantings
Soil Health Principle #5: Integrate animals
A healthy ecosystem provides habitat for animals large and small. The grasslands of the arid Southwest once flourished under the impact of grazing and browsing animals. Today, New Mexico’s ranchers can play an important role in restoring rangelands by practicing adaptive stewardship: mimicking migratory herds of herbivores, animals are moved quickly through pastures, allowing adequate recovery time. On the farm, ruminants graze cover crops, beneficial insects find food and shelter in hedgerows and pollinator strips, and earthworms thrive in healthy soil.
How to apply this principle:
Adaptive grazing, bale grazing, inoculants, pollinator plantings, wildlife habitat
Soil Health Principle #6: Know your context
Every place has its unique history, strengths and vulnerabilities. Understanding the context of the land –including farm or ranch history, goals and objectives, desired profits, production system and markets– is central to being a good caretaker and will inform how best to apply the soil health principles.
How to apply this principle:
How to Apply the Soil Health Principles
Adaptive Grazing
*What is Adaptive Grazing (also called mob grazing, rest-rotation, high-intensity or holistic grazing)?
Adaptive grazing imitates historical grazing patterns of herd animals with livestock. Animals are moved quickly through pastures in a dense formation and adequate recovery time is ensured before the same area is grazed again. Adaptive grazing is never prescriptive –instead, grazing decisions are based on continuous observation and monitoring of available forage. This is essential for soil health on rangelands.
Playlist: Adaptive Grazing for Soil Health
Adaptive grazing in combination with the soil health principles is a powerful tool to restore land health and ranch productivity.
‘Growing Soil’ Through Adaptive Grazing
Fernando Falomir describes the use of cattle as the primary tool for land restoration.
The Art of Grazing
The importance of high intensity planned grazing and rest to restore soil health in New Mexico’s brittle environment.
Flexible Grazing Management on Public Lands
The Three Creeks Project in Utah exemplifies the benefits of a collaborative rest-rotation grazing system.
New Mexico Grazing Exchange
This interactive website facilitates matchmaking between landowners and livestock farmers or contract graziers.
Adaptive Multi-Paddock Grazing in a Nutshell
Multiple small paddocks facilitate short duration/high stock density grazing followed by adequate rest and recovery periods.
Graze-a-thon at El Sueño Ranch
A real-life example of how grazing planning is done to address production needs and conservation goals.
Targeted grazing for fire prevention and ecosystem restoration
Targeted grazing benefits soil health while addressing fuel overload, managing invasive species and limiting wildfire spread and intensity.
Biochar
Biochar… a win/win/win opportunity
Learn about different methods of converting forest slash to biochar by starving the material of oxygen.
Low-tech Methods to Create Biochar
How to make and use biochar to enhance soil health and water quality.
How to make your own Biochar
Make biochar from yard waste using a simple pit method.
Exploring Biochar: Post-Production Activation
How to charge biochar with water and nutrients before soil application.
BIO CHAR – BIO COSMOLOGY
Learn about the Indigenous roots of biochar with innovative applications on the farm.
Companion Planting
Embrace the Chaos
A Chaos Garden is a functional and fun expression of the soil health principle: maximizing diversity!
Compost
Composting in New Mexico
Composting techniques and considerations for composting in the high desert.
NM Compost Coalition Recordings
Working towards a circular economy, turning waste into a resource.
Compost: Small Farm-Style
Composting doesn’t have to be time-consuming or expensive for a small farm.
Straw bale vermicompost tutorial
This cozy straw bale palace for worms isolates against heat or cold and minimizes moisture loss.
Happy Worms all Winter long!
Pro tips on successful vermicomposting throughout the winter months.
Best Practices for Community Composting
Reduce waste, improve local soil, grow nutritious food and fight climate change!
Quick Johnson-Su Bioreactor tutorial
Create biologically diverse, fungal-dominated compost for carbon sequestration and soil health.
Freeze-Resistant Johnson-Su Composting Bioreactors
Bioreactors systems must be kept from freezing for soil microbes to thrive.
Adapting Johnson-Su Composting Bioreactors for Home Use
How to reap the benefits of BEAM in a small scale system, using food scraps.
What’s new with Johnson-Su?
The latest about Biologically Enhanced Agricultural Management (BEAM) from Dr. David Johnson and Hui-Chun Su-Johnson.
Conservation Tillage
Impacts of Silage Tarps on Soil Arthropods, Soil Properties & Crop Yields
Research provides new insights on chemical-free method to control weeds without compromising soil health.
All Things No-Till at Clean Fork Farm
Minimizing soil disturbance increases soil fertility and water retention by encouraging the soil microbiome on pasture and in the market garden.
No-Till Winter Cover Crop Strategies
From planning crop rotations to bed prep and seeding: Winter cover strategies for market gardens and larger-scale vegetable production.
SOIL STORIES with no-till farmer Casey Holland
Casey shares her journey transforming degraded land into a thriving urban farm by focussing on the soil health principles.
Cover crops
Enhancing Cover Cropping Opportunities with Spring Cover Crops
Part I of III: Benefits of spring cover crops, mix composition and integration into crop rotation.
Armoring your Soil for the Winter
Late-seeded summer cover crops can provide residues and winter ground cover.
Cover crop seed coating
Give cover crops a healthy start by coating seeds with biologically active compost before planting.
Soil Health Management in Semiarid Agroecosystems
NMSU research into management strategies for soil health, including cover cropping.
Design
Caring for the land in a harsher climate
Principles and practices for landscape-scale, comprehensive, ecological planning.
Working Wetlands
Repairing wetlands on ranches reaps high rewards for biodiversity, forage growth and overall rehydration of the land.
Restoring Rangeland in Northern New Mexico using Keyline Design
Apply Keyline principles and tools to make maximum use of precipitation.
Landscape Scale Planning of Regional Regenerative Economies
Connecting the dots between forests management, planned grazing, soil health, water conservation and carbon storage.
Earthworks
Soil Building with Swales
A transformative low tech tool for land care, swales also offer a great opportunity to host a field day.
Build a Zuni Bowl
Prevent erosion by capturing runoff or stop a headcut with this structure.
Build a Hügelkultur bed
Hügelkultur is German for hill culture, or mound culture –a traditional farming method in Eastern Europe.
Build a soil sponge Hügelkultur
How to adapt the Hügelkultur technique to rehydrate rangeland.
Hedgerows & Windbreaks
The Benefits of Big Sacaton Grass (Sporobolus wrightii) Windbreaks for Soil Biology
Windbreaks are a valuable tool for building soil health and a sustainable, resilient landscape.
Inoculants
All About Inoculants – Part I
Why and how to use inoculation to jump start and support a more abundant soil organism community.
All About Inoculants – Part II: Liquid Amendments
Key considerations and simple techniques to make liquid compost amendments.
Inoculated Hügelkultur
Inoculation with a compost slurry gives soil microbiology a head start.
Cover Cropping and Microbial Inoculation
Improve soil and plant health by integrating cover crops with Johnson-Su compost inoculations.
Mulch
Building a Microfarm from the Ground Up
Rocket Punch Farm in Belen uses no-till sheet mulching and ecological pest control methods.
Turn Barren Soil into Black Gold: 9 Simple Steps to Sheet Mulching
Sheet mulching is an easy, inexpensive and fast method to regenerate soil.
Bale Grazing to improve Soil Health
In winter, use strategically placed hay bales and animal impact to regenerate bare ground.
Observation
Healthy Soil is Full of Life!
Get to know some of the wondrous creatures that make up our soil ecosystems.
Soil Safari!
Live microscopy session: Take a deep dive into the wild world of creatures inhabiting the soil beneath our feet.
Intro to the Soil Food Web
Learn about the network of organisms living in soil ecosystems, including plants, bacteria, fungi, protozoa, larger predatory species and shredders.
How Alive is my Soil?
Soil testing methods that can be performed in the field with tools found at home or at a hardware store.
How Can You See Soil Health?
Soil health indicators that you can observe right in the field without much equipment or lab analysis.
5 tips for soil health test sampling
If you’re going to send soil samples to a lab, the quality of samples you collect is very important.
Soil Invertebrates As Bioindicators
Soil health is directly linked to the animals that live within the soil. Learn about the incredibly diverse world of soil invertebrates.
Perennials
The Connection Between Soil Fungi and Orchard Health
Orchard crops are perennial plants with strong symbiotic relationships with fungal life.
Branching Out
Lessons learned at the Integrated Orchard Field Day at JAL Farms in Fort Sumner.
Building Resilience on High Desert Rangeland
Innovative young ranchers experiment with Silvopasture and Keyline Design.
Agroforestry for Improved Soil Fertility
Learn about he intentional combination of trees with crops and/or livestock into a single, integrated system.
Pollinators
As beneath the ground so above: soil health and bee habitat
Create robust and self-sustaining pollinator habitat while applying the Healthy Soil Principles.
Wildlife Habitat
Regenerating old Farm Fields to create Native Habitat
Rewilding agricultural landscapes to create habitat and food sources for wildlife.
Wildlife Ponds: If you Build it, They will Come
Construct a pond to capture snow melt and rain run-off.