Soil Health & Testing

Soil Testing


Click on the picture to go to the UMN soil testing website

Soil Testing

Soil Health and Cover Crops

There are agronomic and economic reasons to planting cover crops.  Keeping a cover on the soil all year long and using a diverse range of plants benefits the soil in numerous ways.  Cover crops equate to food for earthworms, who will play a part in aerating soils and fertilizing cash crops.  The more earthworms and soil aggregates in the soil, the better the cropland will infiltrate water.  Why is that important?  Because if water infiltrates the soils, then it's not running off of croplands and causing erosion problems. 

To learn more:


In this video, Dr. Kloot explains why using a cover crop improves soil health and prevents soil erosion.  Did you know that the Scott SWCD has a cover crop interseeder available for rent?  Visit or call (952) 492-5425 to find out more about available rental equipment you could use for planting cover crops.
