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Unit 2: Applying Ecological Principles

Compost and Other Soil Amendments

Spreading compost on a field. (Photo by Dwight Sipler, CC BY 2.0)

Another key practice is to manage and improve soil organic matter using soil amendments. A soil amendment is any material added to the soil to enhance soil quality and promote plant growth. Unlike fertilizers which make nutrients immediately available to the plant, amendments more often influence plant growth indirectly via improvements in the soil’s physical condition and/or through the low-level supply of nutrients that become available through the breakdown (cycling) of soil organic matter. To obtain these benefits the material must be tilled into the soil.

Common soil amendments used by farmers and ranchers include plant/crop residues, animal manures, and compost.