JustinM
Justin Morris
During the Soil for Water film premiere held in February, two questions were asked regarding different types of soil health testing.
Question: Can you explain the PLFA and Haney soil health tests?
Answer: PLFA is an acronym for Phospholipid Fatty Acid test. Since all organisms in the soil have a phospholipid membrane, this type of test can differentiate the different types of phospholipid fatty acids in different types of bacteria, fungi, protozoa and nematodes. A PLFA test will give you a pretty good indication of the general groups of organisms in the soil along with their approximate populations so you can analyze their relative ratios to each other. The Haney test doesn't tell you who's there like a PLFA test, but it does tell you how healthy your soil is by using many measurements of health. These measurements include: water extractable organic carbon, water extractable nitrogen, water extractable organic nitrogen, carbon to nitrogen ration, solvita microbial activity test, inorganic nitrogen, inorganic phosphorus, and inorganic potassium. Here is a link to a presentation done by Rick Haney that talks about the test he developed: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qQ3tI-KwgEE&t=4s.
Question 2: Have different farmers/ranchers found that the Haney soil health test results change with changes in soil management?
Answer: Agricultural producers have found that the results of the Haney Test change with changes in soil management. Crop producers have noticed that their soil health calculation (SHC) improves as they disturb the soil less, keep the soil covered, increase cropping diversity and strive to keep a live root in the ground as much throughout the year as possible.
Question: Can you explain the PLFA and Haney soil health tests?
Answer: PLFA is an acronym for Phospholipid Fatty Acid test. Since all organisms in the soil have a phospholipid membrane, this type of test can differentiate the different types of phospholipid fatty acids in different types of bacteria, fungi, protozoa and nematodes. A PLFA test will give you a pretty good indication of the general groups of organisms in the soil along with their approximate populations so you can analyze their relative ratios to each other. The Haney test doesn't tell you who's there like a PLFA test, but it does tell you how healthy your soil is by using many measurements of health. These measurements include: water extractable organic carbon, water extractable nitrogen, water extractable organic nitrogen, carbon to nitrogen ration, solvita microbial activity test, inorganic nitrogen, inorganic phosphorus, and inorganic potassium. Here is a link to a presentation done by Rick Haney that talks about the test he developed: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qQ3tI-KwgEE&t=4s.
Question 2: Have different farmers/ranchers found that the Haney soil health test results change with changes in soil management?
Answer: Agricultural producers have found that the results of the Haney Test change with changes in soil management. Crop producers have noticed that their soil health calculation (SHC) improves as they disturb the soil less, keep the soil covered, increase cropping diversity and strive to keep a live root in the ground as much throughout the year as possible.