Four Conservation Agricultural Practices to Manage Organic Soil Loss

This factsheet highlights four common conservation agricultural practices that can be implemented to limit organic soil loss. Organic soils (Histosol) are the most important soils that play a crucial role in mitigating global warming by acting as a repository for terrestrial carbon. Within south Florida, nearly 450,000 acres of Histosols are at risk from soil loss via oxidation, and growers would like to know the best ways to manage their soils to limit soil loss. Using the USDA-NRCS framework, we have identified four conservation practices—cover cropping, crop rotation, organic amendments, and conservation tillage—that can be implemented to address organic matter loss within the region.