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
Bale grazing: Efficient soil health improvement
By Stan Wise PIERRE, SD – “Last winter, I fed 450 head of cattle and did not start a tractor for 90 days.” South Dakota Soil Health Coalition Board member and Colome, SD, producer Van Mansheim doesn’t mince words when it comes to the benefits of bale grazing. “I hear...
Soil Health School: Results of residual herbicides on cover crops
As part of the 2022 Soil Health School, SDSU Extension Soils Field Specialist Anthony Bly and South Dakota Soil Health Coalition Soil Health Technician Austin Carlson conducted a field trial to determine the residual effects of various herbicides on common cover crop...
Soil Health Assessment and Cover Crop Grazing Calculator mobile apps now available
The South Dakota Soil Health Coalition is proud to announce that the Soil Health Assessment Card and Cover Crop Grazing Worksheet are now available as mobile apps! With the Soil Health Assessment App, users can input information about the practices used on each of...