Abstract
Soil health metrics in agricultural systems require edaphic context,
notably climate, soil type (soil texture and classification), as well as
cropping system. Soil samples (n=1,334) from New York State (USA) with
both texture and cropping system information were analyzed for eight
physical and biological soil health indicators (soil organic matter,
permanganate-oxidizable carbon, respiration, protein, available water
capacity, wet aggregate stability, and penetration resistance from 0-15
and 15-45 cm), and population distribution functions were determined.
Production environment soil health (PESH) goals were derived for four
soil texture groups and six cropping systems by proposing the 75th and
90th percentile for each factorial class. Finer-textured soils and
Pasture and Mixed Vegetable systems generally have higher values for
soil health goals followed by Dairy Crop and Orchard systems, then
Annual Grain, and Processing Vegetable systems. A comparison between
Long Island and the rest of New York State demonstrated that soil
organic matter PESH goals for Long Island were on average 0.8 % lower
than those from the rest of the state. This indicates that regional PESH
goals within a state or region may be warranted if edaphic context is
considerably different.