Cornell Soil Health Assessment Training Manual
Bill Verbeten, Field Crops
Northwest New York Dairy, Livestock & Field Crops
Briefly, soil is composed of four basic components: mineral solids, water, air and organic matter (including living biota). The mineral solids are stone fragments, sand, silt, and clay. It is the proportion of the latter three that determines the soil's texture. For example, a soil that is composed of 70% silt, 20% sand and 10% clay can be classified as silt loam using the soil texture triangle (Figure 1). Soil texture contributes to the inherent soil quality, the characteristics of the soil that result from soil forming processes These characteristics are difficult to change through soil management.
Cornell Soil Health Assessment Training Manual (pdf; 7099KB)
Upcoming Events
Fertilizers and Herbicides

March 31, 2023
Mount Morris, NY
As input costs rise, it is necessary to employ the best management practices, and it can be advantageous to know what you're getting from your purchases. Plan to attend if you want to understand the terminology, calculations, formulations, and chemistry behind your fertility and herbicide recommendations.
Agritourism Workshops Monthly!
February 20, 2023
March 20, 2023
April 17, 2023
May 15, 2023
June 19, 2023
July 17, 2023
Are you thinking of starting an agritourism business or are you currently operating one?
Join our monthly lunch-hour, workshop virtual series and learn how to grow your agritourism business!
The first session will cover the basics of running an agritourism operation. The following sessions will focus on specific topic to help aspiring agritourism entrepreneurs grow their knowledge and profit through this exciting on-farm business.
Dairy Comp 305 for Spanish Speakers
April 19, 2023
This program was rescheduled from March 30th.
This workshop is for employees, supervisors or managers whose first language is Spanish and whose job entails using DC305 on a daily basis. The objective is for attendees to improve their understanding of the "language" of DC305 as well as the whys behind consistent data entry. Since DC305 is specific to each farm, the workshop will focus on general application and deeper understanding of how data is used on dairy farms.