Soil Health Assessment

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What it is:

• The Soil Health Assessment, also known as ‘Soil Carbon Proxy Tests’ use quantitative and qualitative metrics to give an overall assessment of the level of biodiversity and biological activity in the soil, which can be used as a proxy to assess soil carbon levels. These tests will help you get an idea of how well your soils are supporting life and storing carbon. Of course, soils are complex and not easy to compare to each other, but variations in the same plot of soil over time can provide meaningful information about the impact of management practices. One day of tests will provide some indicators of soil health and provide the land manager with a snapshot of the tested area and recommendations for addressing resource concerns. Repeated annual tests (or even every other year) will provide information about change over time and allow the land manager to see the impact of their growing practices on soil health outcomes.

See a sample test report and analysis

Steps you’ll take: 

1. Fill out the Soil Services Request form and submit
   The price of this test is for one soil test. If you are submitting multiple samples for testing, please indicate this on the form. 
2. A NOFA/Mass Technical Assistance Provider will contact you to schedule a site visit.
3.  All of the tests will be conducted at the site visit.
4.  A report, analysis and recommendations will be sent to you.

Why do we recommend this test? 

• Healthy soils are living soils, and soil life is carbon and stores carbon. Diverse soil organisms use carbon to form their bodies and to form complex carbon molecules that create pores and support diverse habitats in the soil
• These tests will help you get an idea of how well your soils are supporting life and storing carbon
• Get an analysis of what the data means in terms of your soil health and relative carbon levels, as well as recommendations tailored to your site, results, and goals
• As soil organisms build their own habitats and participate in communities with plants, they manage nutrients, water, and carbon in the soil, buffer against drought and flooding rains, and keep plants healthy and all life more resilient
• The greater the health and diversity of life in the soil, the more carbon it will hold and the more resilient our land systems will be in weather extremes
• Gain knowledge about the land you’re growing on

Series of tests that make up the Soil Health Assessment (Soil Carbon Proxy Tests)

• Soil Surface Biology (30” Observation hoop) field test
• Earthworm Count and Biopores field test
• Soil Texture and Visual Aggregation Assessment field test
• Soil Hardness field test
• Water Infiltration field test
• Bulk Density field test
• Slake Test for Aggregate Stability field test

See a detailed breakdown of each test in the Soil Carbon Analysis Manual

Questions? Email [email protected]