Core Ideas Acknowledge the role of experiential knowledge in informing soil use and management. Investigate knowledge needs and discourse in a deeper and all‐encompassing way. Train work‐ready graduates who can succeed as existing staff retire. Form knowledge partnerships with genuine commitment, trust and social cohesion. Broaden the way the discipline communicates and engages with social networks. Provide a dynamic learning environment which balances the digital and real world. Evaluate impact of activities and appraise their worth through reflection. Our aim was to examine the challenges and opportunities to soil knowledge sharing in the 21st Century. Soil can only be effectively managed if we are better connected to it by being well‐informed and with appropriate support. A central observation has been the diminishing human capital and capacity in the sectors of higher education, training and outreach, and the ramifications for knowledge sharing between the various groups: educators, policymakers, researchers, outreach agents and practitioners (including the public). We encourage a movement away from a linear learning model to a socially constructivist learning approach to address the consequences of declining resources, including: a loss of legacy soil information, moribund social networks, loss of experienced outreach staff, and finally a loss of expertise in soil science to prepare graduates for the workplace with improved soil knowledge and practical experiences. Blurring the lines between knowledge generator and user will encourage solutions for the sustainable use of soil from outside traditional knowledge‐holders. We suggest the solution, to a shrinking on‐the‐ground presence, is to invest in relationships and social networks to foster understanding of soil‐building practices and achieve wider adoption of technologies. We need to balance placing information in a digital environment with providing opportunities for sharing information via interpersonal interactions, over a sustained period. This opinion piece reflects on how soil education, training and outreach can form a genuine partnership between those with experience and those with expertise to create a dynamic learning environment with a high probability of ensuring a more sustainably managed landscape.
To elucidate the role of microorganisms for C and N sequestration in arable soils converted to grassland (sites of the Conservation Reserve Program; CRP), we determined amino sugars as indicators for microbial residues in surface samples (0–5 cm) obtained from each of 10 adjacent native grassland, CRP, and cropland sites across the U.S. Great Plains. The CRP sites were 6 to 10 yr and the cropland sites were >80 yr old. Compared with native grasslands, the CRP sites had lost between 17 and 50% and the cropland sites between 32 and 94% of their surface soil organic matter (SOM). The C/N ratio was not significantly different among the three land‐use systems, indicating that C and N losses occurred at similar intensity. The mean amino sugar concentrations decreased in the order native grassland (70 g kg−1 C; 750 g kg−1 N) > CRP (53 g kg−1 C; 570 g kg−1 N) > cropland (47 g kg−1 C; 450 g kg−1 N). This decrease in the element‐normalized concentrations of amino sugars indicated that they responded faster to management than other C or N containing compounds. The response of individual amino sugars related to soil compaction and the temperature regime. We suggest that the resequestration of C and N into the residues of bacteria and fungi requires several years, but as it depends on land use it could be manipulated using, for example, soil decompacting techniques to improve CRP efficiency.
Farmer adoption of practices to build soil health can be enhanced using a knowledge network supported by programs and resources that incorporate technical, social and experiential learning pathways. University Extension plays a critical role in building and supporting the knowledge network by serving as (a) a boundary organization to create space for conversations to occur, (b) network manager to facilitate learning and (c) builder of social capital to encourage trust in the network. The North Dakota State University (NDSU) Soil Health Program was used to illustrate the above approach. Between 2014 and 2016, 32 informal discussion groups, called Soil Health Café Talks, reached 156 individuals. A knowledge network of all participants was developed using NodeXL. The 10 most influential individuals in the network included two scientists, five farmers, one crop consultant and two Extension special-ists. All non-NDSU participants received an evaluation form. Respondents increased their frequency of discussing cover crops with other individuals and increased sharing equipment across farming operations (i.e., vertical tillage implements and no-till drills). Of the topics discussed, over 25% of respondents adopted practices using cover crops (interseeding and using cover crops for weed control and adjusting rotations to incorporate cover crops) as a result of attending Café Talks. Respondents also increased their use of NDSU Soil Health online resources such as Twitter (22%), YouTube (23%) and the web page (21%) as follow-up information to Café Talks.Network-based approaches have proven to be successful in encouraging on-farm adoption of soil health-building practices. K E Y W O R D Scollaborative, linear model, on-farm, whole systems
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