by Cedric W Mason & David W Wolfe

This survey of farmers in New York state was conducted during the winter of 2017-18 by New York Soil Health to 1) prioritize the most common costs and benefits experienced by farmers who use soil health practices, 2) explore how these costs and benefits change over time, and 3) evaluate and compare the performance of several different practices and cropping systems.

182 responses were received from farmers representing 46 different NY counties and approximately 172,000 acres of cropland. The two most commonly reported constraints on crop production were “Poor drainage” and “Soil Compaction”, which were identified by more than 60% of farmers. The third most common constraint was “Soil erosion”, which was identified by just over 40% of farmers. Other production constraints included “Low soil fertility” and “Inadequate water retention”.