The Classroom

 
Sustainable Soil Management (Summary)
 

This publication covers basic soil properties and management steps toward building and maintaining healthy soils.

Part I deals with basic soil principles and provides an understanding of living soils and how they work. In this section you will find answers to why soil organisms and organic matter are important. 

Part II covers management steps to build soil quality on your farm. The last section looks at farmers who have successfully built up their soil. The publication concludes with a large resource section of other available information.

[HTML] [PDF / 1.56 mb] Download Acrobat Reader.

 

National Center for Appropriate Technology (NCAT) logo and link to home pageATTRA - National Sustainable Agriculture Information Service is managed by the National Center for Appropriate Technology (NCAT) and is funded under a grant from the United States Department of Agriculture's Rural Business-Cooperative Service. Visit the NCAT Web site for more information on our sustainable agriculture projects.

 What is Sustainable Agriculture?

Whether you're a beginning farmer, or an experienced agricultural producer interested in transitioning to more sustainable practices, you may want to start by learning more about the principles of sustainable agriculture and some of the "systems" approaches associated with it. The publications in this series introduce and discuss concepts, and provide a general overview of planning and managing a more sustainable farm operation.

ATTRA Publications

NOTE: Some of the following documents are available as Adobe Acrobat PDFs. Download Acrobat Reader.

Sustainable Agriculture: An Introduction [Summary] [HTML] [PDF / 700 kb]
Applying the Principles of Sustainable Farming [Summary] [HTML] [PDF / 477 kb]
Organic Crop Production Overview [Summary] [HTML] [PDF / 899 kb]
Holistic Management: A Whole-Farm Decision Making Framework [Summary] [HTML] [PDF / 337 kb]
Overview of Cover Crops and Green Manures [Summary] [HTML] [PDF / 484 kb]
Manures for Organic Crop Production [Summary] [HTML] [PDF / 385 kb]
Biointensive Integrated Pest Management (IPM) [Summary] [HTML] [PDF / 866 kb]
Farmscaping to Enhance Biological Control [Summary] [HTML] [PDF / 1.4M]
Introduction to Permaculture: Concepts and Resources [Summary] [HTML]
Local Food Directories [Summary] [HTML]

 

Links to Other Introductory Sustainable Agriculture & Agroecology Information

What is Sustainable Agriculture? University of California Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Program

Exploring Sustainability in Agriculture, Sustainable Agriculture Network

Defining and Implementing Sustainable Agriculture, Kansas State University Extension

Towards a Sustainable Agriculture, article by Steve Diver

Future Horizons: Recent Literature in Sustainable Agriculture, University of Nebraska Extension

Tracing the Evolution of Organic/Sustainable Agriculture, Alternative Farming Systems Information Center

Sustainable Agriculture: Definitions and Terms, Alternative Farming Systems Information Center

An Introduction to Sustainable Agriculture, Ecological Agriculture Projects, Macdonald College of McGill University

Sustainable Agriculture: Balancing Profits and Human and Natural Resources, Center for Integrated Agricultural Systems, University of Wisconsin

Principles of Agricultural Sustainability, by John Gerber

Sustainable Agriculture Case Studies, NRCS (PDF / 277K)

Principles of Agroecology and Sustainability, University of California-Santa Cruz

Agroecology: Principles and Strategies for Designing Sustainable Farming Systems, by Miguel Altieri

Farms as Ecosystems, Dalhousie University

Improving Whole Farm Planning Through Better Decision-Making, Holistic Management International

 
   
 
   
 
   

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