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Soils & Compost
Healthy soil can improve crop and livestock production. The publications and other resources listed here offer information on how to assess, improve and maintain soil health for both croplands and pastures. Several publications address fertilization and composting specifically for organic production. Soil management can also play an important role in protecting water quality, and additional resources are listed on that topic.
ATTRA Publications
NOTE: Some of the following documents are available as Adobe Acrobat PDFs. Download Acrobat Reader.
| A Brief Overview of Nutrient Cycling in Pastures | Summary [HTML] [PDF/324K] |
| Alternative Soil Testing Laboratories | Summary [HTML] |
| Arsenic in Poultry Litter: Organic Regulations | Summary [HTML] [PDF/553K] |
| Assessing the Pasture Soil Resource | Summary [HTML] [PDF/1.1M] |
| Biodynamic Farming & Compost Preparation | Summary [HTML] [PDF/468K] |
| Drought Resistant Soil | Summary [HTML] [PDF/228K] |
| Farm-Scale Composting Resource List | Summary [HTML] |
| Foliar Fertilization | Summary [HTML] [PDF/168K] |
| Manures for Organic Crop Production | Summary [HTML] [PDF/381K] |
| Notes on Compost Teas | Summary [HTML] [PDF/2.9M] |
| Nutrient Cycling in Pastures | Summary [HTML] [PDF/1.2M] |
| Overview of Cover Crops and Green Manures | Summary [HTML] [PDF/472K] |
| Potting Mixes for Certified Organic Production | Summary [HTML] [PDF/811K] |
| Rye as a Cover Crop | Summary [HTML] [PDF/117K] |
| Soil Management: National Organic Program Regulations | Summary [HTML] [PDF/900K] |
| Soil Moisture Monitoring: Low-Cost Tools and Methods | Summary [HTML] [PDF/634K] |
| Sustainable Management of Soil-borne Plant Diseases | Summary [HTML] [PDF/845K] |
| Sustainable Soil Management | Summary [HTML] [PDF/2.2M] |
| Symphylans: Soil Pest Management Options | Summary [HTML] [PDF/1.5M] |
| Worms for Bait or Waste Processing (Vermicomposting) | Summary [HTML] [PDF/964K] |
Links to Other Soils Information
Fundamentals of Soils
|
Building Soils for Better Crops
SARE publication |
| USDA/NRCS Soils Website |
Soil Quality
| Cornell Soil Health |
| NRCS Soil Quality |
|
Soil and Health Library
"The Soil & Health Library" is an excellent site that keeps many of the classic writings on organic farming—such as Sir Albert Howard's books—accessible to us. |
Soil Biology
| Biological Soil Crusts |
|
Biological Soil Crusts: Ecology and Management
(large PDF), United States Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management |
|
Earthworm Information
University of California-SAREP |
|
Soil Biological Communities
Bureau of Land Management National Science & Technology Center |
|
Soil Biology Information Resources
NRCS Soil Quality |
|
Soil Biology Primer
NRCS Soil Quality |
| Soil Foodweb |
Soil Organic Matter
|
Restoring the Productivity of Marginal Soils with Organic Amendments
American Journal of Alternative Agriculture |
|
Soil Organic Matter
Alberta Agriculture, Food and Rural Development |
|
Soil Organic Matter Budgeting in Sustainable Farming
(PDF), Michael Fields Agricultural Institute Bulletin #7 |
Organic Fertilizers and Amendments
|
National Organic Program
The National Organic Program Web site is the place to find and download copies of the Final Rule, learn about current NOSB recommendations, get a history on the National Organic Program, and more. |
|
Nutrient Content of Fertilizer and Organic Materials
North Carolina Cooperative Extension Service |
|
Soil Fertility Management for Organic Crops
University of California |
Composting
Vermicomposting
| Worm Digest |
| Worms Eat My Garbage |
Soil Conservation
| Soil and Water Conservation Society |
| USDA/NRCS National Conservation Practice Standards |
Crop Rotations, Cover Crops, Mulching, and No-till
|
Cover Crop Fundamentals
Ohio State University Extension Fact Sheet |
|
Living Mulches
Sustainable Practices for Vegetable Production in the South |
|
Michigan Cover Crops
Michigan State University & Kellogg Biological Station |
|
Multiple Impacts of Cover Crops in Farming Systems
Department of Horticulture, Oregon State University |
| No-tillage |
| UC SAREP Cover Crop Resource Page |
|
Value of Legumes for Plowdown Nitrogen
Ohio State University Extension Fact Sheet |
Soils for Pasture and Range Use
|
Interpreting Indicators of Rangeland Health
(PDF), United States Department of Agriculture, Bureau of Land Management |
| USDA/NRCS Grazing Lands Technology Institute |
| Water, Grass & Livestock: An Annotated Bibliography of Riparian Grazing Publications |
Nutrient Management Planning
|
Certified Manure Testing Laboratories
Minnesota Department of Agriculture |
| Livestock and Poultry Environmental Stewardship Curriculum |
This page was last updated on: June 16, 2010
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