Connecting what you found in your soil to strategies that fit your growing site, your context, and this season.
BY THE END OF THIS ARTICLE, YOU WILL BE ABLE TO…
- Connect your soil observations and AWHC estimates to specific practice areas most likely to improve water resilience on your farm
- Identify one or two starting points that are realistic given your current context.
At this point, you may have made sensory observations about your soil, assessed the profile, and calculated how much water each area of your farm can hold. This article is the translation step: what do those findings mean for what you do next?
The table below connects your soil observations and your AWHC estimates to practices worth exploring. Most growers will recognize themselves in more than one row across both tables — that’s normal, and it’s useful information. Use them together to identify where your highest-leverage opportunities are.
ACTIVITY – Soil findings synthesis
Work through the questions below using your completed profile observations and AWHC estimates.
| Question | Your answer |
|---|---|
| Which row from the sensory observation table (3A) most closely describes your most limited location? | |
| Which row from the AWHC table (3B) most closely describes that same location? | |
| Do the two rows point toward the same strategy, or different ones? | |
| What is the one soil investment most likely to improve water resilience at your highest-potential location? | |
| What is the one soil investment most likely to improve water resilience at your most limited location? | |
| Is there a location where your findings suggest a different crop or management approach than what you’re currently doing? |
PUTTING IT INTO PRACTICE
- Name the row from each table that most accurately describes your farm’s most limited location. Do they point in the same direction, or different ones? If different, which is more urgent this season?
- What is the one soil investment at your highest-potential location that you could realistically begin this season? Name the action, not just the category.
- For your most limited location: is the most important first step this season, or is it a longer-term project? If longer-term, what first steps will you take to begin implementing that project?
Carry forward: Your soil findings and the practice areas you identified carry into Article 4: Preparations & Practices.
RESOURCES
Site Factors publication (link available on publication release) — — Understanding and Evaluating Site Factors Related to Dry-Farmed Vegetable Productivity.
Building Soils for Better Crops — — SARE. Comprehensive reference on soil health practices and their relationship to water storage and crop resilience.
Soil Health Starter Kit (link opens a PDF) — — NRCS. Short, practical introduction to soil health principles.
Find a Professional Soil Scientist — — For formal AWHC estimates and profile descriptions on complex or new ground. soils.org/certifications/professional-search
Dry Farming on Sandy Soils with Deep Mulch — — 26 min presentation from Jen Clark, Roots Farm, Poulsbo, WA.
DFI × OSU CRAFS · Water Resilience Toolkit · Grower Pathway