Soil Health Buckets
Education & Follow Up
Utilizing funding provided through an agreement with the USDA-Natural Resources Conservation Service as well as donations made by Farm Credit Services of America, First Dakota National Bank, Ducks Unlimited Inc., and Dacotah Bank the SD Soil Health Coalition provides educational “Soil Health Buckets” and lessons to vocational agriculture classrooms, soil science classrooms and additional youth groups.
Each “Bucket” includes eighteen different lesson plans and the tools necessary to demonstrate the soil health principles and concepts included within the plans. Each bucket complete with all necessary items has a price tag of nearly $500. The SD Soil Health Coalition would like to thank the current contributors, and will continue to work to provide each classroom the bucket, lesson plans, and follow up to educate our youth about soil health!
Those interested in receiving a Soil Health Bucket or contributing towards this project should contact Cindy Zenk, SDSHC Coordinator, at (605) 280-4190 for additional information.
Interested In Results From A Soil Health Knowledge, Interest, & Awareness Survey Conducted In 2018
Soil Health Lesson Plans
Lesson 1 Soil Components-Physical Properties
Lesson 2 Soil Organic Matter
Lesson 3 Using Textural Triangle
Lesson 4 Soil Moisture by Feel and Appearance
Lesson 5 Soil Quality Measurement
Lesson 6 Soil Bulk Density
Lesson 7 Soil Respiration
Lesson 8 Soil Electrical Conductivity
Lesson 9 Web Soil Survey
Lesson 10 Soil pH: What Affects it, What it Affects,
Managing it and Testing it
Lesson 11 Soil Nitrogen
Lesson 12 Soil Phosphorus
Lesson 13 Soil Infiltration
Lesson 14 Scientific Method
Lesson 15 Soil Science Capstone Activity
Lesson 16 Rainfall Simulator
Lesson 17 Soil Microbiology – “Tighty Whities” Test 1
Lesson 18 Soil Aggregates
News & Events
Soil Health School offers life-changing networking opportunities
By Stan Wise In 2019, Mitchell, SD, producer Mike Blaalid found like-minded producers and experts at the South Dakota Soil Health School, and meeting them helped him make some big changes in his operation. “I just had specific ideas I wanted to see what they thought...
Healthy land management can prevent dust storms
By Stan Wise South Dakota Soil Health Coalition PIERRE – In the past month, dust storms have been making headlines across the western United States, including South Dakota. Blowing soil has created driving hazards due to low visibility, and accumulated wind-blown silt...
Living roots: Fighting soil compaction with biology and diversity
By Stan Wise As farm equipment has modernized, it has become much larger. That extra horsepower comes at a cost – and not just the one on the sticker. “Back in the day, they weren’t recommending any more than 5 tons per axle,” South Dakota State University Soils Field...