Soil health in washington vineyards

Authors: MCILQUHAM, MOLLY - Washington State University; MOYER, MICHELLE - Washington State University; DAVENPORT, JOAN - Washington State University; Rippner, Devin; GELARDI, DANI - Washington Department Of Agriculture; PORTER, TEAL - Washington State University; MICHEL, LESLIE - Washington Department Of Agriculture; LAHUE-GRIFFIN, DEIRDRE - Washington State University

Submitted to: Extension Publications
Publication Type: Other
Publication Acceptance Date: 1/30/2023
Publication Date: 1/31/2023
Citation: Mcilquham, M., Moyer, M., Davenport, J., Rippner, D.A., Gelardi, D., Porter, T., Michel, L., Lahue-Griffin, D. 2023. Soil health in washington vineyards. Extension Publications. 14.

Interpretive Summary: Soil health in vineyards describes the ability of the soil to resist disturbances, like large wind and rain events, improve the efficiency of nutrient use, minimizing excess losses to the environment, and grow a healthy crop while also benefiting the surrounding landscape. The first step in the journey toward improving soil health is measuring the biological, chemical, and physical indicators of health for the soil, similar to how a doctor might measure a person’s red blood cell count (biological), cholesterol (chemical), and height (physical). With repeated measurements, vineyard managers can track changes in soil health over time. Changes in soil health associated with implementing soil health-building practices are typically identified first by more sensitive biological and chemical indicators with improvements in physical indicators occurring over multiple years.

Technical Abstract: Soil health in vineyards describes the ability of the soil to resist disturbances, like large wind and rain events, improve the efficiency of nutrient use, minimizing excess losses to the environment, and grow a healthy crop while also benefiting the surrounding landscape. The first step in the journey toward improving soil health is measuring the biological, chemical, and physical indicators of health for the soil, similar to how a doctor might measure a person’s red blood cell count (biological), cholesterol (chemical), and height (physical). With repeated measurements, vineyard managers can track changes in soil health over time. Changes in soil health associated with implementing soil health-building practices are typically identified first by more sensitive biological and chemical indicators with improvements in physical indicators occurring over multiple years.