Resilient Soils for Resilient Farms: An Integrative Approach to Assess, Promote, and Value Soil Health for Small- and Medium-Size Farms

Abstract

Healthy soils are the foundation of our food system and support broad environmental goals, including improved water quality and carbon sequestration. Increasingly, we appreciate that aspects of soil health such as fertility for plants, suppression of disease, and cycling of nutrients are linked to the functional diversity of soil microbial communities. The impact of functional capacity is influenced by farm management, which varies with farm size. Small to medium-size farms, with gross sales of less than $250,00 per year, make up 89% of farms in the United States, despite often being ignored in policy decisions. They are often more integrated into local food systems than larger farms, have greater investment in long-term sustainability due to their tendency to be passed from farmers to children, and are more reliant on soil health than larger farms. We describe a research framework to advance understanding of the soil microbiome and its role in soil health, environmental outcomes, and agricultural sustainability on small and medium farms. Our perspective elevates four research priorities to link the benefits of healthy soil microbiomes from the microscale to the macroscale. We hope this approach will lead to practical applications to enable success in the context of ongoing environmental and economic challenges that affect the agricultural landscape.

Keywords

• carbon cycling
• ecosystem function
• food systems
• indicators
• management
• microbiome