Soil Health Assessment with Jordon Wade, Ph.D.

Dr. Jordon Wade is an assistant professor of soil health and soil fertility at the University of Missouri. Wade is also the director of the Soil Health Assessment Center, which is one of the few places in the US that offers the full gamut of soil health measurements. The USDA and Soil Health Institute have both put together lists of relevant soil health measurements. And these empirical ways of measuring soil health is what this episode explores from aggregate stability to organic matter to microbial biomass and beyond.

“We really want to be able to get that holistic picture from around the state, you know, all of our ag producing regions...You know it gives us a lot more insight into that context specificity than if we were to be referencing a national database or something like that. We just have so much information, so much granularity from those samples that are coming in.” - Dr. Jordon Wade

Wade explains the wealth of data the Soil Health Assessment Center is acquiring and how they are enriching it with surveys, trials and collaborations. The results are “truly decision support tools.” Measurements help producers pivot and track their efforts to improve their soil health. Wade shares that one of the measurements he finds most impactful is aggregate stability which “integrates the chemical and physical components” of the soil leading to benefits like less erosion potential.

“We're really at a crossroads here in Missouri in terms of climate and soil types. I always say that farming in Missouri is playing the farming game on hard mode because shallow soils and drought prone weather is tough.” - Dr. Jordon Wade

This Week on Soil Sense:

• Meet Dr. Jordon Wade, an assistant professor of soil health and soil fertility at the University of Missouri as well as the director of the Soil Health Assessment Center

• Explore the significance and value in the operation of the Soil Health Assessment Center for the state of Missouri