Developing a Soil Organic Matter Management Tool for Swiss Farmers

Developing a Soil Organic Matter Management Tool for Swiss Farmers

Yafei Li¹, Jens Leifeld¹, Frank Liebisch¹, Stéphane Burgos², Anina Gilgen¹, Simon Baumgartner¹, Florian Walder¹

¹Agroecology and Environment, Agroscope, Zürich, Switzerland

²BFH University of Applied Sciences, Zollikofen, Switzerland

Soil Organic Matter (SOM) is a central feature of healthy agricultural soils. The sustainable management of SOM content is, therefore, helping to secure long-term soil health. Measuring the temporal changes in soil organic matter (SOM) content in the field is a time-consuming, resource-intensive, and costly process. Consequently, numerous models and tools have been created to simulate the dynamics of SOM content in soils. In Switzerland, for example, humusbilanz.ch is a tool designed to assist farmers in managing SOM by calculating the carbon inputs and outputs specific to their farms. As our understanding of soil organic carbon processes has deepened considerably in recent years, we aim to leverage established SOM models, such as RothC, DayCent and AMG, to enhance the Swiss SOM management tool. The tool aims to provide Swiss farmers with a reliable means to assess parcel-specific SOM management by estimating long-term SOM dynamics and evaluating the influence of agricultural practices on SOM content. The tool will be particularly designed for practical use, incorporating commonly available data to minimize input requirements for farmers. It should ultimately serve as a critical reference for farmers' intended practices, fostering sustainable soil management and supporting national agricultural goals.