Course: SLF 150 Pasture Management

Reading & Audio Visual

Soil Mismanagement
Soil Mismanagement

Activities that Damage Soil Quality

- Soil compaction and structure damage occur when too much livestock travels on wet soil.
- Over grazing results when animals are allowed to over graze ground creates weak forage growth and sustainability.
- Soil acidification results from the removal of soil during crop harvest, the use of acid-forming nitrogenous fertilizers and/or acid rain.Soil contamination results from the addition of pollutants from various sources.
- Soil salination, or the excess accumulation of free salts, which can lead to reduced plant growth, erosion due to loss of plant cover and soil structure, and water quality problems due to sedimentation. Soil salination is particularly problematic in arid lands and often results from irrigation.
- Erosion is one of the most serious soil mismanagement problem is soil erosion. Erosion is a  natural process, but in many places, it is greatly increased by human land use, especially poor land use practices, such as deforestation, overgrazing, and improper construction activity.