Moses Johnson

A day at Menoken Farm brought together farmers, ranchers, and soil health advocates for presentations covering topics from intentional management strategies to ranching with ecology in mind, here's what one Conference Support Recipient learned.

Soil Health Strategies from the 2026 Menoken Farm Conference

Moses Johnson

April 10, 2026

Conference Support Recipient, Moses Johnson, shares his findings and reflections on the

Prospering with the Principles - Befriending Biology Conference hosted at Menoken Farm by the Burleigh County Soil Conservation District.

“Intentional Management Next Level Strategies for Soil Health”

By Barry Fisher with Fisher Soil Health LLC

fishersoilhealth@gmail.com | linkedin.com/in/barry-fisher-798a5585

The day at Menoken Farm started with a grounding reminder, we are food producers. Every conversation about salinity, erosion, compaction, herbicide resistance, or input costs eventually circles back to the same thing, the quality of the food we grow and the land that supports it. Soil health is not an abstract environmental concept. It is about whether the soil can do its job.

Barry Fisher built his message around that idea. With decades at USDA-NRCS and as a working farmer, he did not promote a single practice or product. His focus was simple and direct, soil health is about function, and function improves when management becomes intentional. The question is not whether soil health works. The question is whether we are managing root causes or just reacting to symptoms.

He challenged the room to look beneath familiar problems. A gully is not always a missing grass waterway. Ponding is not just a drainage issue. Often the deeper problem is that the soil has lost the structure to absorb rainfall where it lands. That brought him to aggregate stability, the soil’s ability to hold together under water. Without stable aggregates at the surface, infiltration slows, runoff increases, oxygen exchange declines, and biology loses habitat. With stable aggregates, rainfall becomes an asset instead of a liability.

Fisher encouraged farmers to trust what they see in the field. Lab tests have value, but they cannot fully capture a living system. Infiltration, soil structure, root growth, and biological activity tell the real story. True infiltration means water enters the soil matrix where it falls. Preferential flow, where water skims the surface and moves nutrients into cracks and tile lines, is not the same thing. Improving infiltration, especially in saline or water-challenged areas, starts with better structure and consistent living roots.

He also addressed frustration over organic matter numbers that seem stuck. The stable humus measured on standard tests changes slowly. Meanwhile, active carbon pools tied to microbes, aggregate formation, and nutrient cycling often respond first. Soil function can improve long before the total organic matter percentage shows it.

Living roots were central to his approach. Continuous roots feed biology with carbon, strengthen structure, and accelerate recovery. Diversity supports that system. Whether through crop rotation, cover crop mixes, or livestock integration, diversity builds resilience.

On nutrient management, he reminded the group that even well-managed systems lose a portion of applied nutrients. The original nutrient economy of soil was built on plant and microbial relationships. Precision tools like the 4Rs matter, but so does supporting the biology that cycles and retains nutrients. He pushed back on the idea that nutrient stratification in no-till is automatically a flaw. In long-term systems, those layers often reflect stored carbon and nutrients along root channels, a kind of biological bank account. He cautioned against the temptation of a one-time tillage pass to “fix” problems. Short-term yield bumps can come from disturbing biology and releasing nutrients, but they often carry long-term costs in carbon loss and soil function.

When he turned to cover crops, the emphasis stayed practical. Design them around goals. If you want weed suppression, grazing, nitrogen contribution, or compaction relief, seed rates and species selection must match that purpose. Diversity is not just about the number of species, but about how the system functions together. Even within a species like cereal rye, variety selection matters. Adapted genetics can influence biomass, winter hardiness, and weed suppression. Grazing adds another layer. The same cover crop mix can behave differently depending on whether it is grazed. Residue quality and carbon-to-nitrogen balance shift, influencing the next crop.

Fisher closed with integrated pest management. IPM was never meant to default to preventative chemistry. It was designed as a holistic system that limits pest opportunities, supports predator-prey relationships, and uses chemical tools when necessary, not by habit. When beneficial organisms lose habitat or are unintentionally harmed, pest problems often follow.

His broader message was steady and practical. Agriculture will always require adaptation - weather shifts, markets change, plans get disrupted. When in doubt, lean toward practices that rebuild resilience, improve infiltration, protect aggregates, keep living roots, and increase diversity. If the soil functions, the system becomes more forgiving. And sometimes the best strategy is not to chase every problem, but to build a system strong enough to withstand them.

Practical Action Steps from Barry Fisher’s Soil Health Framework

Barry Fisher’s message is straightforward: soil health is a management decision. If we want better outcomes, we have to be intentional. Soil does not improve by accident. It improves when we deliberately manage it for function.

1. Start With Intentional Management

Before touching equipment or ordering seed, clarify your intent.

Define what success looks like on your farm.
Identify your core farm values, integrity, stewardship, relationships, continuous improvement.
Make sure everyone on the team understands the direction.
Align decisions with those values.

Soil health is the continued capacity of soil to function as a living ecosystem. If soil function improves, productivity and resilience follow.

2. Address the Root Cause, Not the Symptom

Barry emphasized resource concerns as signals of underlying dysfunction. Erosion, ponding, compaction, nutrient loss, weed pressure, these are symptoms.

Ask:

What is the actual root cause?
Is it poor aggregate stability?
Is infiltration limited?
Is soil biology degraded?
Is organic matter declining?
Is traffic load excessive?

Find the pain point in your operation. Start there. Do not try to fix everything at once. The next logical step is often small but strategic.

3. Examine Soil Health Indicators in the Field

Soil tests matter, but what you see in person matters just as much.

Evaluate:

Surface aggregate stability.
Infiltration versus runoff.
Soil structure and porosity.
Root penetration.
Biological activity.

If aggregates slake and seal, you get crusting and runoff. If aggregates hold together, water infiltrates and nutrients cycle. That difference drives everything downstream, including nutrient efficiency and water quality.

4. Implement the Five Soil Health Principles

The system must work together. These principles are not independent.

Minimize Disturbance

Reduce tillage intensity.
Evaluate whether you are truly no-tilling, strip-tilling, or simply reducing passes.
Manage traffic and axle load to avoid compaction.

Maximize Soil Cover

Maintain residue.
Keep armor on the soil surface to protect aggregates and reduce erosion.

Maximize Living Roots

Keep roots in the ground as long as possible.
Extend the growing season with cover crops.

Maximize Diversity

Diversify crop rotations.
Use multi-species cover crop mixes.
Integrate livestock where feasible.

Integrate Livestock and Insects

Grazing can accelerate nutrient cycling and stimulate biological activity.
Manage grazing density intentionally.
Build diversity as a biological defense system.

Diversity builds defense. A resilient system reduces pest pressure, buffers weather extremes, and improves nutrient cycling.

5. Design Cover Crops With Purpose

Cover crops are tools, not decorations.

Match species and seeding rates to your goal:

Grazing?
Weed suppression?
Nitrogen contribution?
Compaction alleviation?
Erosion control?

Consider:

Plant population per square foot.
Biomass targets.
Termination strategy.
How the cover crop fits the next rotation step.

Higher density may support weed suppression. Lower density may favor grazing or cost control. Make the rate intentional.

6. Plan Crop Rotation Strategically

Crop rotation drives biological diversity and nutrient cycling.

Ask:

What is the next logical crop?
Does this rotation break pest cycles?
Does it help manage nutrient stratification?
Does it improve aggregate stability over time?

Rotation should address a resource concern, not just market opportunity.

7. Manage Nutrients Adaptively

Only 30 to 55 percent of applied inorganic fertilizer is directly used by plants in many systems. The rest is subject to loss pathways.

Improve nutrient efficiency by:

Following the 4Rs, right source, right rate, right time, right place.
Accounting for soil organic matter contributions.
Understanding nutrient stratification in reduced tillage systems.
Improving infiltration to reduce runoff losses.
Managing macropore flow and tile drainage risks.

Adaptive nutrient management includes biological contributions, not just synthetic inputs.

8. Protect and Build Soil Organic Matter

Organic matter pools matter.

Support both:

Labile organic matter for active nutrient cycling.
Stable humus for long-term structure and resilience.

Practical steps:

Maintain continuous roots.
Increase residue return.
Reduce disturbance.
Integrate livestock when appropriate.

Improving soil organic matter improves aggregation, infiltration, nutrient retention, and biological habitat.

9. Use Integrated Pest Management

Pest management should not default to preventative chemistry.

Apply IPM principles:

Limit pest opportunities through rotation and diversity.
Encourage predator-prey relationships.
Use cultural and biological controls first.
Apply chemicals judiciously and only when necessary.
Consider unintended consequences, including non-target organism impacts.

Chemical tools have a place, but overuse can undermine soil biology and long-term resilience.

10. Evaluate the Entire System in Context

Every decision must fit your:

Location
Climate
Soil type
Equipment
Labor capacity
Timeline

A practice that works in one region may fail in another if not adapted. The question is not whether a tool works. The question is whether it works in your system.

11. Build Defense Through System Design

Sometimes the best offense is a good defense.

Healthy soil: