The Beautiful, the Bad, and the Ugly: Creating Visual, Chromatographic, Images to see what Soil Health Really Looks Like.
Southern Region
Rio Grande
County
(Alamosa, Conejos, Costilla, Saguache)
- Agriculture
- In the field
Primary Topic:
Agriculture
Other Topics:
Community & Economic Development, Horticulture, Food Systems, Natural Resources
Internship Overview:
This is not a busy work summer job! This is an opportunity for a student to learn a skill in measuring soil health. This is an opportunity for a student to have a real impact on the long-term economic and natural resource viability of the farming and ranching community in the San Luis Valley of Colorado.
The San Luis Valley is a major agricultural production area for potatoes, alfalfa, grains, cattle, sheep, and a variety of other, smaller crop and livestock enterprises. The agricultural economy is the cornerstone of the entire economy of the communities within the Valley. The annual precipitation is about 7 inches per year, so virtually all ag production is dependent on irrigation. Due to factors of both nature and man, we are facing a water shortage and both from legal and environmental pressures, we are required to significantly reduce our consumptive water use. The challenge for our community is to find every way possible to keep ag land in economically viable production while reducing water use, instead of drying up the land and the economy of the Valley.
It is well known that healthier soils result in more water penetrating into the soil and less running off and being wasted. It is also well proven that healthier soils retain moisture better than less healthy soils. And yet the adoption of production management practices to improve soil health have been slow at best.
This project is about analyzing soil health with a qualitative process called soil chromatography. Soil Chromatography produces a visual, chromatographic image that indicates the level of organic matter, soil microbial population, and enzymatic activity in the soil. It is a process that takes time and is very time sensitive, but it can be done in-house and costs only pennies per sample, compared to several hundred dollars for a laboratory analysis. Healthy soil produces a beautiful, geometrically balanced image. Unhealthy soil produces an ugly glob of an image.
We introduced soil chromatography to a limited number of producers and consultants this past summer, and we experienced a much heightened response to these qualitative images than to the quantitative numbers provided by a typical laboratory analysis. It is our hope that combining these images along with the laboratory analysis will result in more producers getting more excited about improving their soil health, and taking action to improve their soil. The potential result will be the ability to raise the same crops on the same ground and maintain economically viable yields while simultaneously significantly reducing consumptive irrigation water use.
The San Luis Valley is a major agricultural production area for potatoes, alfalfa, grains, cattle, sheep, and a variety of other, smaller crop and livestock enterprises. The agricultural economy is the cornerstone of the entire economy of the communities within the Valley. The annual precipitation is about 7 inches per year, so virtually all ag production is dependent on irrigation. Due to factors of both nature and man, we are facing a water shortage and both from legal and environmental pressures, we are required to significantly reduce our consumptive water use. The challenge for our community is to find every way possible to keep ag land in economically viable production while reducing water use, instead of drying up the land and the economy of the Valley.
It is well known that healthier soils result in more water penetrating into the soil and less running off and being wasted. It is also well proven that healthier soils retain moisture better than less healthy soils. And yet the adoption of production management practices to improve soil health have been slow at best.
This project is about analyzing soil health with a qualitative process called soil chromatography. Soil Chromatography produces a visual, chromatographic image that indicates the level of organic matter, soil microbial population, and enzymatic activity in the soil. It is a process that takes time and is very time sensitive, but it can be done in-house and costs only pennies per sample, compared to several hundred dollars for a laboratory analysis. Healthy soil produces a beautiful, geometrically balanced image. Unhealthy soil produces an ugly glob of an image.
We introduced soil chromatography to a limited number of producers and consultants this past summer, and we experienced a much heightened response to these qualitative images than to the quantitative numbers provided by a typical laboratory analysis. It is our hope that combining these images along with the laboratory analysis will result in more producers getting more excited about improving their soil health, and taking action to improve their soil. The potential result will be the ability to raise the same crops on the same ground and maintain economically viable yields while simultaneously significantly reducing consumptive irrigation water use.
Goals, Scope and Objectives:
The overarching goal of this project and internship is to influence ag producers to improve their soil health, thus resulting in more sustainable natural resources and more profitable business enterprises.
The scope for this year is to do a comparative survey of soils using soil chromatography images along side laboratory soil analysis, on a variety of fields with varying degrees of soil health.
The objectives for the student include:
– Learning and performing the technique of soil chromatography
– Learning the art and science of interpreting soil chromatography images
– Collecting soil samples from a variety of crop and pasture land
– Submitting soil samples to laboratories to obtain typical quantitative analysis
– Performing the chromatography analysis on the same soil samples
– Building a side-by-side display of the qualitative image and the quantitative numbers
– Thus, creating a frame work for a more visual educational presentation to ag producers on the merits of improving soil health
The scope for this year is to do a comparative survey of soils using soil chromatography images along side laboratory soil analysis, on a variety of fields with varying degrees of soil health.
The objectives for the student include:
– Learning and performing the technique of soil chromatography
– Learning the art and science of interpreting soil chromatography images
– Collecting soil samples from a variety of crop and pasture land
– Submitting soil samples to laboratories to obtain typical quantitative analysis
– Performing the chromatography analysis on the same soil samples
– Building a side-by-side display of the qualitative image and the quantitative numbers
– Thus, creating a frame work for a more visual educational presentation to ag producers on the merits of improving soil health
With which stakeholder group(s) will the intern work?
– Ag producers
– CSU Researchers and Extension Educators
– Soil Conservation District members
– County commissioners
– CSU Researchers and Extension Educators
– Soil Conservation District members
– County commissioners
What student learning outcomes do you anticipate and what are the opportunities for professional development?
– Students will learn the technique of soil chromatography analysis and the skill to interpret the results. These are potentially marketable skills for this student in
the future
– Students will learn about soil health and its importance in both sustaining our natural resources and economic viability in agriculture.
– Students will learn the interface of the qualitative chromatography analysis and the quantitative laboratory analysis.
– Students will learn about experimental design and analysis.
– Students will learn the importance of and gain experience in developing relationships with stakeholders, researchers, and educators.
– Students will gain experience in presenting their results and making a real difference in their community.
the future
– Students will learn about soil health and its importance in both sustaining our natural resources and economic viability in agriculture.
– Students will learn the interface of the qualitative chromatography analysis and the quantitative laboratory analysis.
– Students will learn about experimental design and analysis.
– Students will learn the importance of and gain experience in developing relationships with stakeholders, researchers, and educators.
– Students will gain experience in presenting their results and making a real difference in their community.
