The 5 Principles of Soil Health
- Soil Armor: providing the soil with as much cover as possible. Controls various types of erosion, reduce soil evaporation rates, maintain soil temperatures, prevent compaction of soils, suppress weed growth, and provides protection for the soil's food web.
Optimize Soil Disturbance: chemical, biological, and physical disturbances minimally and only in a way that will improve soil and not become dependent on chemicals, biological, and physical disturbances.
Plant Diversity: integrating multiple species allows the ability to combat low infiltration rates, compaction, low/high nitrogen levels, low/high carbon levels, and declining soil organic matter.
Continual Living Plant/Root: increases soil biology, infiltration rates, and may be used for livestock integration, while also reducing erosion.
Livestock Integration: more forage for livestock, reduces livestock waste, balances carbon/nitrogen rates, higher in nutrient diet for livestock, and better regrowth for perennial plants.
