ABSTRACT:
This study was conducted to evaluate four approaches to point-scale assessment of soil quality: farmers' perceptions and field-descriptive, field-analytical and laboratory-analytical assessments. Twenty-four conventional and organic farmers were paired within ecoregions, and perceptions of soil quality indicators on their “good” and “problem” soils were surveyed. Using results from laboratory-analytical assessments as a standard, farmers' perceptions were accurate or near-accurate in over 75% of the cases for the majority of indicators evaluated in the study. Field-descriptive assessments of topsoil depth and soil texture were accurate or near-accurate in at least 92% of the cases. Results from field-analytical assessments of electrical conductivity, soil pH, and soil nitrate were accurate in at least 46% of the cases. From an assessment-efficiency standpoint, seeking out farmers' perceptions of soil quality indicators seems to be an appropriate first iteration to point-scale evaluations.
Footnotes
Mark A. Liebig is a graduate research assistant, Department of Agronomy, and John W. Doran is a soil scientist, U.S. Department of Agriculture Agricultural Research Service, at the University of Nebraska, Lincoln. The authors thank the participating farmers who spent valuable time in completing questionnaires. They also thank David Podoll and Fred Kirschenmann, two farmers from North Dakota, for their helpful comments and advice during the pre-testing phase of this project. Mention of commercial products and organizations in this paper is solely to provide specific information. It does not constitute endorsement by University of Nebraska or USDA-ARS over other products and organizations not mentioned.
- Copyright 1999 by the Soil and Water Conservation Society
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