Soil Quality – What difference does it make to me?

by Bobby D. Tricks, Soil Scientist
Natural Resources Conservation Service
Hays, Kansas

Soils have chemical, biological, and physical properties that interact in many complex ways to give a soil a capacity to function. Soil quality cannot be measured directly; it must be inferred from measuring properties or changes in its properties or the attributes or properties of the ecosystem. Each soil has a capacity to function; some soils will function better than others, depending on the ecosystem (rangeland, wetland, cropland, yard, or many other land uses) you are looking at.

Soil quality varies considerably over both large and small scales; it is dynamic, in constant change. Depending on the factors and properties of the soil, the soil quality is degrading, sustaining, or improving. Soil quality has its basis in the relationships with internal and external factors that function within the complex combination of soils and the ecosystem it is in.

Healthy soils help us by regulating water. Soil helps control where rain, snowmelt, and irrigation water goes. Water and dissolved solutes flow over the land or into and through the soil.

Healthy soils help sustain plant and animal life. The diversity and productivity of living things depends on soil.

Healthy soils provide filtering for potential pollutants. The minerals and microbes in soil are responsible for filtering, buffering, degrading, immobilizing, and detoxifying organic and inorganic materials, including industrial and municipal by-products and atmospheric deposits.

Healthy soils cycle nutrients. Carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus, and many other nutrients are stored, transformed, and cycled through soil.

Soils provide foundation for supporting structures. Buildings need stable soil for support, and archeological treasures associated with human habitation are protected in soils.

Healthy soils provide us with clean air and water, bountiful crops and forests, productive rangeland, diverse wildlife, and beautiful landscapes.

Measuring soil quality is an assessment of how well soil performs all of its functions. It cannot be determined by measuring only crop yield, water quality, or any other single outcome. The quality of a soil is an assessment of how it performs all of its functions now and how those functions are being preserved for future use.

Understanding soil quality means assessing and managing soil so that it is functioning properly now and is not being degraded for future use. By monitoring changes in soil quality, a producer can determine if a set of practices are sustainable or may need adjustment.

For more information about soils, please contact your local Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) office or conservation district office located at your local county USDA Service Center.

For more information about NRCS programs, visit the Kansas NRCS Web site at www.ks.nrcs.usda.gov.

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Last Modified: 12/21/2007