January 2019 - 27

PLANT & SOIL NUTRITION
chemical, and biological indicators of soil
health for sustainable potato production. "
In others words, the project is meant
to answer questions like: What does a
healthy soil look like, and how does a
grower know if their soil is healthy or not?
Given how much variability there is
in soil and the microbes that live there,
looking at just one location would not
give the same view on soil health as this
project aims to deliver.
" I think having this broader view will
give us a much different perspective
on how soil health can be improved in
potato production and one size might
not fit all, " Rosen said. " It's a start. "
Importantly, Rosen said, the end
goal is not just to scientifically answer
those questions, but also to give
growers practical and economically viable
ways to improve the health of their fields.
" What we want to
do is figure out what
their (growers')
amenability to accept
these soil health
practices, what that is
across different nontraditional
producer
practices. "
− Alexander Maas, assistant
professor, University of Idaho
The project will look at the effects
of potato cultivar, fumigation, crop
rotation, cover crops, green manures,
microbial inoculants and nutrient
amendments on soil health, as well as on
potato health and yields.
To achieve those goals the project is
divided up into four distinct objectives:
1. To use controlled research plots to
evaluate practices and their effects
on soil health and yields.
2. Examine what some innovative
growers are already doing to
improve soil health, in order
to incorporate the practical
success that farmers have already
achieved.
3. Look at these ways to improve
soil health through the lens of
financial realty, to look at which of
these suggestions are viable given
real-world costs.
4. Finally, researchers plan to create
outreach materials, including
handbooks, to help growers put
the lessons learned from the
research into action.
The USDA has released the funds
for the first year of the project and will
release the funding for each following
year as the research rolls on.
A possible complication is the fact
that as of Oct. 1 the current farm bill had
expired and, as of press date, there hasn't
been a replacement.
Rosen said he's navigated difficulties
like this in the past, even having a three-
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DON MATIAS
Dark green, tapered 6x4 in/
16x10 cm, two lobed
Mexican type. Vigorous plant
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year project become a four-year project
due to a past government shutdown.
" We know we have the first-year
funding, so it's good to get it started, "
he said.
That first installment comes to
just under $1.9 million, which will
allow work to begin on all four
objectives. So as the field trials get
underway, researchers will look at
the economic angle of soil health.
Christopher McIntosh, interim head
of the department of agricultural
economics and rural sociology at the
University of Idaho, and Assistant
Professor Alexander Maas will look at
how economically viable some of the
proposed practices are.
McIntosh and Maas said they are
not only looking at which proposed
practices make economic sense, but
they are also examining how growers
decide of which practices to implement
on their operations.
" What we want to do is figure out what
their (growers') amenability to accept
these soil health practices, what that is
across different non-traditional producer
practices, " Maas said.
The researchers will put questions to
producers to figure out what goes into
determining whether it's worth it to a
producer to try out a new practice.
" That's kind of what we're getting at,
trying to find out what their attitudes are
toward adopting those and that, in a way,
gives us some information about how we
might go about making it more likely for
them to adopt them if that was the end
goal of policy, " McIntosh said.
The other part of their objective is
to run the numbers and see if it makes
financial sense to operators to implement
some of these practices. Though, that
piece has its complications as well. The
exact benefit of the different practices isn't
known for sure, but will depending on the
results of the research. VGN
MONTCLAIR
112 day. Large bulbs with
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TURNPIKE
TAILGATE
75 day, large green to
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bell with strong disease
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85 day, oblong 17 lb/8 kg
dark green striped Crimson
sweet type watermelon with
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January 2019

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of January 2019
