Introduction to Soils

Soil is fundamental to farming through the well-being of the crops and livestock linked with it. Healthy soils lead to productive crops (and associated livestock) poor soil health will impact directly on the profitability and sustainability of your farming business. Do you know how healthy your soils are?

LEARNING OUTCOMES

On successful completion of this course, you will be able to:

• Understand key soil physical, chemical and biological properties, and their role in soil health
• Carry out an assessment of soil texture – appreciate key characteristics of each soil class such as drainage and water storage, workability, etc.
• Learn how to safely expose a soil profile and carry out a visual assessment of soil structure. Understand the importance of a good physical soil structure and its role in the function of water, nutrients, air & support of soil biology
• Take a representative soil sample for lab analysis and evaluate basic soil chemical analyses
• Describe the main classes of organisms in soil and their functional importance in soil systems.

Takes roughly 90 minutes to complete – This course does not all need to be completed in one go. You can stop and start the course at any time.