Soil Essentials

Managing Your Farm's Primary Asset

		Roger Hall   Earthcare Enterprises Illustrations, Colour illustrations 192 pages Publisher: Landlinks Press 2008 View large cover

    Paperback - ISBN: 9780643090521 - AU $ 49.95

Description  | Contents  | Author Information  | Related Titles

Description
Soil Essentials is a practical reference for farmers and land managers covering soil issues commonly encountered at the farm level. Written in a straightforward style, it explains the principles of soil management and the interpretation of soil tests, and how to use this information to address long-term soil and enterprise viability.

This book demonstrates how minerals, trace elements, organic matter, soil organisms and fertilisers affect soil, plant and animal health. It shows how to recognise soil decline, and how to repair soils affected by nutrient imbalances, depleted soil microbiology, soil erosion, compaction, structural decline, soil sodicity and salinity. The major problem-soils – sodic soils, light sandy soils, heavy clay soils and acid sulphate soils – are all examined.

With this information, farmers and land managers will be able to consider the costs and financial benefits of good soil management.

Contents
Preface
The nature of Australian soils
Soil pH
Nutrient balance in the soil
Carbon in the soil
Nitrogen in the soil
Phosphorus in the soil
Potassium in the soil
Magnesium in the soil
Trace elements in the soil
Soil cations
Sulphur in the soil
Aluminium in the soil
Soil sodicity
Soil analysis results
Encouraging soil biological activity
Earthworms
Biological farming
Components of soil fertility
When to apply fertilisers to plants
Soil erosion
Repairing and preventing soil erosion
Soil compaction
Soil structural decline
Water movement in soil
Urbanisation in rural areas
Appendices

Appendix 1. Preferred pHw ranges for some agricultural crops

Appendix 2. The pH (H2O) scale

Appendix 3. Electrical conductivity (in dS/m)

Appendix 4. Salt tolerance of some agricultural crops showing maximum ECe values in dS/m for no yield reduction

Appendix 5. Total soluble salts

Appendix 6. Chloride (as % NaCl).

Appendix 7. Organic carbon (%) and total nitrogen (%)

Appendix 8. The nitrogen cycle

Appendix 9. The carbon cycle

Appendix 10. Mathematical conversions.

Appendix 11. The organic matter cycle

Appendix 12. The different processes of slacking and dispersion

Appendix 13. Organic matter levels relate to rainfall for surface soils (0–10 cm)

Appendix 14. Nutrient deficiencies in plants: a quick guide.

Appendix 15. Average nutrient contents of animal manures (as a percentage).

Appendix 16. Mineral elements in plants.

Appendix 17. The average composition of the plant.

Appendix 18. The influence of chemical fertilisers on pH

Appendix 19. Physical properties of soil.

Appendix 20. The four main types of structure that occur in mineral soils

Appendix 21. Plant – soil – water required

Appendix 22. Readily available water required

Appendix 23. Cumulative infiltration of water

Appendix 24. Average infiltration rates for some soil type

Appendix 25. Assessing soil texture by feel

Appendix 26. Texturing soils using a soil bolus

Appendix 27. Soil colour
Further reading

Author Information
After training in farm management at Dookie College, Roger Hall spent a number of years working on farms in Victoria and the NSW Riverina. He has worked with the Victorian Soil Conservation Authority, the Rutherglen Research Institute and at Dookie College as a soil conservation instructor. One of his many achievements has been a major study on soil management in the Murray-Darling Basin funded by the Murray-Darling Basin Commission. He now works as a private consultant conducting soil investigations as well as running his own farm, which includes horticultural production of tree seedlings and vegetables.

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