Building Soils for Better Crops Ecological Management for Healthy Soils

by Fred Magdoff, Harold Van Es

The 4th edition of Building Soils for Better Crops is a one-of-a-kind, practical guide to ecological soil management. It provides step-by-step information on soil-improving practices as well as in-depth background―from what soil is to the importance of organic matter. It will show you how different physical, chemical and biological factors of the soil interconnect, and how management practices impact them to make your soil healthy and resilient or unhealthy and vulnerable to degradation. Case studies of farmers from across the country provide inspiring examples of how soil―and whole farms―have been renewed through these techniques. A must-read for farmers, educators and students alike.

410 pages, Paperback

Published December 30, 2020

About the author

Fred Magdoff is Emeritus Professor of Soils in the Department of Plant and Soil Science at the University of Vermont. He received his degrees from Oberlin College (BA) and from Cornell University (MS and PhD). Magdoff was Plant and Soil Science Department Chair for 8 years (1985-1993), a member of the National Small Farm Commission (1997-1999, USDA), and is the Coordinator in the 12-state Northeast Region for the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Program. He is a Fellow of the American Society of Agronomy.

Magdoff's area of specialty is soil fertility and management. He has worked on problems of sodic and saline soils, acid soils, use of manures and sewage sludges, phosphorus soil tests, nutrient cycling, and he developed the first reliable soil test for nitrogen availability to corn for the humid regions of the U.S. This test, called the Pre-Sidedress Nitrate Test (PSNT) and the Spring or Late Spring Nitrate Test, is now used throughout much of the Northeast, Mid-Atlantic, and Midwestern states as well as in eastern Canada. It has also been adopted for use with a number of vegetable crops.

Magdoff has oriented his outreach activities to explaining how to apply ecological principles to agricultural production. His book, Building Soils for Better Crops (2000, Harold van Es, co-author), is an ecologically-based approach that explains how to work with and enhance the inherent built-in strengths of plant/soil systems. Magdoff is also interested in political and economic issues surrounding agriculture and was senior editor of Hungry for Profit: The Agribusiness Threat to Farmers, Food, and the Environment (2000, Monthly Review Press, NY).

Reviews

[Harold Citron · Rating 4 out of 5]

I purchased this book on a recommendation from one of the professors of Soil Science at Cornell University. I inquired about obtaining an undergraduate entry-level textbook that would be a step up from the usual home-gardening books.

I was not disappointed. Building soils provides a broad foundation into understanding the need for healthy soil, the benefits from various practices, and the path and challenges to achieving that goal.

While the text focuses primarily of commercial farming, in particular, primary cash row-crops (i.e. grains and corn), Magdoff and Van Es, provide a structure that incorporates understanding of all facets of building up a healthy soil, focusing on improving biological / organic matter - including a focus on manure and compost, water control (both irrigation and drainage), fertilizer / nutrition, and soil compaction.

Each chapter provides a bibliography for jumping into further details on any of the many specific subjects.

For the home gardener, which is where I fall in the table, the information provides a critical depth of knowledge even though the vast majority of examples deal with professional farms.

Well worth the read