Soil Balancing Team Resources

Ohio State is studying the use and effects of soil balancing

The following resources are available to share our research results, along with basic information on soil health that is related to the use of soil balancing.

About Soil Balancing

Research Results (non-Academic)

Soil Health 101

Research Results - Published Academic Articles

Leiva Soto, A., Culman, S.W., Herms, C., Sprunger, C., Doohan, D. (2022) Managing soil acidity vs. soil Ca:Mg ratio: What is more important for crop productivity? Crop, Forage & Turfgrass Management 
http://doi.org/10.1002/cft2.20210

Brock, C., Jackson-Smith, D., Kumarappan, S., Culman, S, Herms, C., Doohan, D. (2021) Organic Corn Production Practices and Profitability in the Eastern U.S. Corn Belt Sustainability 
https://doi.org/10.3390/su13168682

Sprunger, C. D.,Culman, S. W., Deiss, L., Brock, C., & Jackson-Smith, D. (2021) Which management practices influence soil health in Midwest organic corn systems? Agronomy Journal
http://doi.org/10.1002/agj2.20786

Brock, C., Jackson-Smith, D., Culman, S., Doohan, D., & Herms, C. (2021). Soil balancing within organic farming: Negotiating meanings and boundaries in an alternative agricultural community of practice. Agriculture and Human Values, 38, 449–465.
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10460-020-10165-y

Culman SW, Brock C, Doohan D, Jackson-Smith D, Herms C, Chaganti VN, Kleinhenz M, Sprunger CD, Spargo J. Base cation saturation ratios vs. sufficiency level of nutrients: A false dichotomy in practice. Agronomy Journal, 2021; 1−11.
https://doi.org/10.1002/agj2.20787

Brock, C., Jackson-Smith, D., Kumarappan, S., Culman, S., Doohan, D., & Herms, C. (2021). The prevalence and practice of soil balancing among organic corn farmers. Renewable Agriculture and Food Systems, 1–10.
https://doi.org/10.1017/S1742170520000381

Chaganti, V. N.,Culman, S. W., Herms, C., Sprunger, C. D., Brock, C., Leiva Soto, A., & Doohan, D. (2021) Base cation saturation ratios, soil health, and yield in organic field crops. Agronomy Journal (in review)

Chaganti, V. N., Culman, S. W., Dick, W. A., & Kost, D. (2019). Effects of gypsum application rate and frequency on corn response to nitrogen. Agronomy Journal, 111(3), 1109–1117.
https://doi.org/10.2134/agronj2018.10.0683

Leiva Soto, A. (2018). Effects of soil balancing treatments on soils, vegetable crops and weeds in organically managed farms (thesis, Master Thesis, Ohio State University).
http://etd.ohiolink.edu/

Chaganti, V., & Culman, S. (2017). Historical perspective of soil balancing theory and identifying knowledge gaps: A review. Crop, Forage & Turfgrass Management, 3(1), 1–7.
https://doi.org/10.2134/cftm2016.10.0072

All work is funded by the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture's Organic Agriculture Research and Extension Initiative, grant no. 2014-51300-22331 / project accession no. 1003905.