Emma Kurth's Doctoral Scholarly Seminar

Emma Kurth, PhD Candidate in Soil Science, will present her Doctoral Scholarly Seminar, Cover Crops and the Linked Global Concerns of Food Security and Soil Quality. Her seminar will be held in 370 Kottman Hall.

Agriculture today is faced with the challenge of feeding 9.7 billion by 2050 and to achieve this goal sustainably, best management practices (BMPs) that improve soil and water quality and mitigate environmental impacts will need to be implemented. Long-term food security is further threatened by the declining growth in yield for major cereal crops, extreme weather events, and changes in growing seasons for these major cereal crops. The Soil Science Society of America (1997) defined soil quality as, “The capacity of a specific kind of soil to function within natural or managed ecosystem boundaries, to sustain biological productivity,maintain environmental quality, and promote plant and animal health.” Soil quality assessment requires integration and evaluation of soil physical, chemical and biological indicators, that reflect critical soil functions and processes and are sensitive in detecting land use changes.

Conservation practices that improve soil quality are those that accumulate soil organic matter, improve hydrological and physical properties, and promote diversity of soil microorganisms. These practices include crop rotation, conservation tillage, cover crops, and maintaining residue cover on the surface. This seminar will discuss the framework for assessing soil quality, the laboratory methods used to analyze certain soil quality indicators, and the impact of nine cover cropping practices on these soil quality indicators and corn yield.