Qualitative assessments are just as important as quantitative assessments in monitoring the health of the agroecosystem. Here are a few basic questions to start with:
What has been happening with crop yields? What trends are you seeing over time, or what variability do you note across the landscape?
How does the performance of your crops compare to neighboring farms on similar soil types?
Do crops quickly show signs of stress during wet or dry periods?
Are there any symptoms of nutrient deficiencies?
Is the soil obviously compacted, or does it plow up cloddy and take a lot of secondary tillage?
Does the soil crust easily?
Are there signs of excess runoff and erosion?
Does it take more power than before to run tillage or planting equipment through the soil?
Are there any increasing problems with diseases, insects, or nutrient stress?
A number of tools and guidebooks have been developed to help farmers and ranchers monitor their systems, and assess the impact of their management decisions. A few examples (also mentioned in Course 1 of this series) are listed below:
