Monitoring soil health

Introduction

A fundamental principle of RV is good soil health, therefore it is essential to monitor:

  • Soil Organic Matter (SOM)
  • Soil Biology, including invertebrate diversity, soil microbial biomass, enzymatic activity, soil microbial community, mineralisable C, N, and P, and soil respiration
  • Soil structure, including aggregate stability, infiltration, and water holding capacity

Soil samples should be taken for all the blocks which have different conditions or are subject to different management operations. They should be sent to specialist soil sampling labs for analysis.

Regular testing should be undertaken of samples taken from the same locations at the same time each sample year. This will enable you to compare your blocks, assess the impact of activities you are implementing to improve your soil health and inform next steps. Some parameters will be helpful to lab test annually, although that can be expensive. Testing SOM every three years can show trends over time, and there are field tests for soil structure that a field manager can perform without lab analysis.

In detail

Regenerating the soils is essential for rebuilding the symbiotic relationships between vines and the microbiome.  To do this, you need to monitor the contents of your soil.  There needs to be enough carbon in the soil for:

  • Plenty of beneficial microbes, especially mycorrhizal fungi
  • Enough pore structure in the soil for conditions to be aerobic
  • A good structure which improves water infiltration, soil aggregate stability and therefore water holding capacity, while decreasing soil erosion, nutrient leaching and run off

Best practice is to:

  • Divide your vineyard into blocks according to soils, management and/or specific areas of concern
  • Take a sample from each of those blocks
  • Take your spade (farmer’s most important tool!) and dig a hole. Feel the soil, smell it, look at the crumbs, check for worm casts, feel the bugs crawling around. Do a slake test and a water infiltration analysis.
  • Send samples to a lab for analysis for measurement of:
    • Soil nutrient profile, including macronutrient ratios, pH, Cation Exchange CapacityAnalysis of soil microbial activity and diversity
    • DNA or PLFA analysis
  • Record the results and the operations performed on each block during the year to enable analysis of the impact of any amendments you have made
  • Repeat the tests at the same time the following year

Further information

To find a lab for analysis, contact…

In the UK, labs include:

Please note that this list of laboratories is for information purposes. The RVF does not endorse, recommend or guarantee the suitability, accuracy, or quality of the services provided. You should exercise due diligence before engaging any advisors.

Toolkit

Soil organic matter

Introduction An important biological property is the soil organic matter (SOM) content. SOM is the foodstuff for a large variety of soil organisms ranging upwards in size from bacteria, archaea, and fungi (the microorganisms) to earthworms, ants, termites, and wood lice. This hierarchy of organisms constitutes a soil food web. As SOM is consumed by […]

Interrow Tillage

Introduction Tillage exposes the soil to the air so that it breaks down and enables CO2 to be released back into the atmosphere. Deeper tillage leads to more carbon lost to the atmosphere. It also damages the microbes in the soil and breaks up the mycorrhizal relationships between the plant roots and the beneficial fungi […]

Undervine Tillage

Introduction Many tools now exist to manage the undervine strip mechanically, and without resorting to herbicides, and these all have their advantages and disadvantages. An intervine plough that turns the soil may be the most effective in removing weed roots, but will cause the most damage to soil biology. Tools that cut weed roots without […]

Decompaction

Introduction Compaction in vineyards is a common problem, frequently caused by the regular passage of heavy machinery. Compacted soils perform poorly, waterlog easily, and do not support healthy microbial populations. The best way to avoid compacted soils is to develop a healthy soil biology, and use plants with deep root systems, and encourage earthworms. In […]

Soil/ground cover

Introduction One of the key principles of regenerative viticulture is to avoid bare soil – keeping the ground covered (see cover crops) also reduces soil temperature during hot periods. Living ground cover also provides habitat and biodiversity within a vineyard. Furthermore, photosynthesis captures carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. A higher percentage of the ground covered […]

Cover crops

Introduction Some of the key principles of regenerative agriculture are: Cover crops / ground cover can help achieve these objectives. Plants in the vineyard (which can be naturally generated and/or sown cover crops) can be grown within vine row alleys, in the under-vine strip, in headlands, and surrounding the vineyard. They can offer multiple ‘ecosystem […]

Vine fertility/nutrition and composting

Introduction The annual removal of crop and prunings also removes nutrients from the vineyard, depleting their availability within the ecosystem. Some vineyards rely on synthetic fertilisers to ‘fix’ issues related to nutrition. However, reliance solely on these applications creates a short-term feedback loop that can: In such cases, it becomes necessary to provide increasingly further […]

Animal Integration

Introduction There is great potential with animals to accelerate soil health and regeneration through planned, strategic grazing management. Livestock also have the potential to reduce machinery movements throughout the vineyard at certain times of the season. This can reduce costs and time spent doing tasks, but it also limits the damage to soil from machinery […]

Water use

Introduction Irrigation of vineyards is a common practice in almost all wine-producing countries worldwide, although it is (currently) forbidden by law in many traditional European wine regions. It is particularly common at the commercial end of the wine sector, with irrigation necessary to produce the larger crop loads required. At the fine wine end of […]