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Soil Fertility and Management at Red Fire Farm
Granby, MA
Red Fire Farm
Overview
Mission Statement:
The mission of Red Fire Farm is to be a
year-round local source for high quality food
and ornamental crops grown at our farm
using organic principles that result in safe
food and a healthy environment. Through
innovative marketing strategies we provide
an exciting shopping experience and
educate our community about the benefits
of eating locally grown foods during all four
seasons. We seek to achieve these goals
for the community while providing fulfilling
and sustainable careers for the farmers.
Basic Statistics:
• 1000 CSA shares in 09 ~ 65% of sales
• Two Farm stands ~ 17 % of sales
• 2 Farmers Markets Per Week ~6% of sales
• Wholesale to local natural food stores and co-ops. ~12 % of sales
• 09 Gross Sales of ~1.04 Million
• ~45 acres planted vegetable crops (~100 acres in veg. rotation.
• ~20,000 square feet of steel greenhouse space.
• 09 labor ~ 40,000 hrs. (inc. Ryan and all labor)
Red Fire Farm CSA 2009
-Farm Pickup ~160
-Springfield FM ~80
-Common Wealth ~30
-Boston – 7 locations ~675
-Other (elder shares, Montague, etc.) ~30
-20 Week CSA Season is June – late Oct.
-24 Week option (about ½ of our members)
adds an every other week dist.
in Nov. and Dec.
-Deep Winter Shares ~ 150 members, Jan,
Feb and March every other wkCambridge Distribution
Some of the
Current Red Fire
Farm Core Crew
–Winter 09/10
Ryan
Voiland
Sarah
Ingraham
Deb AndrePatrick Benson,
Chickens, Harvest
Manager
Kirk
Russell
Seasonal Positions Are Open
on our Crew, please inquire if
interested.
Chef and
Food
Educator
Ona
Mark Reeves, Planting
Manager
Nov. 2009 RFF Staff Picture
The Granby Farm Stead and Greenhouses
The Home Farm Map
Other RFF Field Maps
Little Hill
and
Orchard
Ludlow
Line
Field
Chicopee
Street
Field
Lyons
Street
Fields
Our New Montague Farm
• Fields and maps
Montague Farm Field Maps
General Principles and Practices of Soil Management at RFF:
-Have a field labeling and recordkeeping system that allows
inputs and rotations to be accurately tracked over time.
-Pull soil tests regularly, amend lime and other bulk spread inputs
based on these tests.
-Minimize tillage. Only use tillage when there is a reason to do it
that outweighs the reasons to not do it.
-Grow cover crops diligently, before and after all cash crops, and
in non cash crop summers.
-Maintain at least 1/3 of total plantable acreage in a summer
cover crop rotation.
-Use compost and organic mulches regularly. Increase compost
if soil is being cropped more intensively (double cropping,
greenhouses, compromised rotation, etc)
-Amend soils with bagged organic fertilizers when needed for
adequate crop performance.
Field Labeling and Record Keeping
• All fields are divided out into blocks that are either 8 beds or 14 beds wide.
• Each block is divided by a semi permanent “harvest isle”.
• Maps are maintained of each field and block, both on Siga Field and as excel spreadsheets.
• Crops and input plans are kept track of for each block on a regularly updated field plans excel spreadsheet. Actuals are recorded into Siga Field for a long term record.
Growing Blocks- almost all of the RFF fields, unless they are very small are
divided into blocks of either 8 or 14 beds. The new fields that are recently set
up are 8 beds per block (allowing spraying to be done entirely from the harvest
isles when needed).
Large Field Divided into blocks
Harvest Isles Serve Several Functions:
-Sod access for harvesting, spraying and other crop care.
-Perennial vegetation of grasses and clovers add diversity to the otherwise annual fields.
Habitat for beneficial insects.
-Isles define the growing area, this allows accurate tracking of where things are planted
in the fields from year to year and facilitates crop planning and rotation.
Siga Field Generated Maps
Little Hill
and
Orchard
Ludlow
Line
Field
Chicopee
Street
Field
Lyons
Street
Fields
Ludlow Line Field - Back Block ~6.25 blocks of 14 410' beds 5740 bed ft./block =~ .74 ac./block
Block Bed # First Sec. or Succ. 2nd Sec. or Succ. 3rd Sec. or Succ. E------>
Crop TP / Seed DateVariety Crop TP / Seed DateVariety Crop TP / Seed DateVariety
llf-b-7 16 muskmelons 6/7/10 athena
15 muskmelons 6/7/10 halona
14 muskmelons 6/7/10 honey types
13 muskmelons 6/7/10 honey types
12 muskmelons 6/7/10 sarah's choice
11 muskmelons 6/7/10 sarah's choice
10 muskmelons 6/7/10 sarah's choice
9 watermelon 6/7/10 little baby flower
8 watermelon 6/7/10 little baby flower
7 watermelon 6/7/10 little baby flower
6 watermelon 6/7/10 peace
5 watermelon 6/7/10 peace
4 watermelon 6/7/10 sugar baby / lantha
3 watermelon 6/7/10 sugar baby / lantha
2 watermelon 6/7/10 other watermelon
1 watermelon 6/7/10 other watermelon
llf-b-6 14 section is two beds short?
13 swiss chard 4/12/10 argentata, bright yellow and ruby red.
12 swiss chard 4/12/10 argentata, bright yellow and ruby red.
11 kale 4/19/10 kale/collard mix
10 kale 4/26/10 kale/collard mix
9 kale 4/26/10 kale/collard mix
8 kholrabi 4/12/10 kolibri
7 kholrabi 4/12/10 kolibri
6 kholrabi 4/12/10 winner
5 strawberry 6/4/2009 honeye, mesabi, jewel
4 strawberry 6/4/2009 honeye
3 strawberry 6/4/2009 honeye , darselect
2 strawberry 6/4/2009 evangeline, l'amore, darselect
1 strawberry 6/4/2009 evangeline, wendy
Excel Spreadsheet Templates are
used each year to plan out crop
locations and planting dates.
Hardcopies are made of the empty
template onto which the actual
plantings are recorded immediately
after seeding or TPing. Bagged
fertilizers that are added at bed
formation or as side dress are also
recorded on these maps and then
added into siga field after the
growing season.
Field Plan Excel spreadsheets for Crop Planning, these
function as worksheets and short term recordsField Plans as of 1/1/10 (for 2010 crop location planning) C= Red Clover, V= vetch and oats, R = Rye, FP = Field Pea and Oats.
Fie
ld
blo
ck
Bed
Feet
Acera
ge
08 c
rop
Co
ver
Cro
ps t
o S
pri
ng
Pla
nt
2009
Cro
p
co
ver
cro
p s
itu
ati
on
as o
f 1/1
/10
Co
ver
Cro
p t
o S
pri
ng
Pla
nt?
2010
Cro
pp
ing p
lan
HATCH hatch 1 3600 0.5066141 hay sod solanacious oats and peas allium
HATCH hatch 11 3600 0.5066141 hay sod early cabbage older oats and peas allium
HATCH hatch 6 3600 0.5066141 hay sod solanacious garlic on 1/2, rest bare allium
HOME backfield 3 2000 0.2814523 late radish, and beets early lettuce non asp part is bare asparagus
backfield 4 0.5 older oats and vetch beans
HATCH hatch 4 3600 0.5066141 hay sod solanacious young rye and vetch beets, early
LYONS lyons back 1 north 5810 0.8176189 brassicas and summer cucurbitcorn clover beets, later planting
HATCH hatch 2 3600 0.5066141 hay sod solanacious rye and vetch (spotty on one side) beets, mid
OAK Oak 1 3600 0.5066141 buckw heat seed by 8/1 hay brassicas
OAK Oak 3 3600 0.5066141 buckw heat seed by 8/1 medium oat / vetch brassicas
LLF llf-b-5 5740 0.8077681 corn potato
young oat (NO POT VOLUNTEERS
ALLOWED) brassicas, early
LLF llf-b-6 5740 0.8077681 onions tomato / straw berry 1/2 straw berries, 1/2 young oat /pea brassicas, early
LLF llf-c-6 2380 0.3349282 straw / clover potato small oat / pea (NO POT VOLUNTEERS!) brassicas, early
LYONS longfield 11225 1.579651 potatoes melons medium oats vetch brassicas, late
LYONS lyons back 2 13000 1.8294399 summer and w inter squashpotato
young oats (DO NOT ALLOW POT
VOLUNTEERS) brassicas, late
CSF csf-d-1 3000 0.4221784 w inter squash sw eet potato young rye carrots
CSF csf-d-2 4200 0.5910498 w inter squash sw eet potato young rye carrots
CSF csf-d-3 4200 0.5910498 w inter squash sw eet potato young rye carrots
HATCH hatch 15 2376 0.3343653 hay sod cucurbit large oats and peas carrots
HATCH hatch 9 3600 0.5066141 hay sod melons older oats and peas carrots
LLF llf-c-4 4760 0.6698565 straw / clover allium
1/2 is medium vetch / oat, 1/2 is medium
field pea / oat carrots
LYONS spring field 6395 0.8999437 tomatoes and eggplant brassica sw eet or red clover, beet part bare celery, other misc.
LITTLE HILL center dip 5045 0.7099634 tomato and pepperpeas & oats rutabaga and etc. bare / brassica residue corn
Siga Field
Siga Field is a computer software program that is designed for
keeping track of rotations and inputs on farm fields. The program
can do a number of things, but what I find most useful are:
Mapping Functions, Rotation Records, Input Records
Rotation History by Block – one problem is that cover crops and
double cropping can not be accurately tracked.
Siga field allows input records to be tracked for each field. It can then generate nice
reports by year or fields over time, etc.
Soil Testing and Inputs
• Regular soil tests are pulled from each field (or block if management has been very different) at least once every three years. Often tests are more frequent.
• Soil tests are used to determine Lime applications and other bulk amendment decisions.
• Soil tests also show trends in soil OM and chemical fertility over time. They show if soil management is working in terms of improving or at least maintaining soil quality.
• We have also done the Cornell Soil Quality testing on some of our fields during the past couple of years. These are much more expensive tests but show more indicators about physical and biological soil health in addition to the chemical nutrient analysis.
Cornell Soil
Quality Reports
Soil Organic Matter -Ideal range for most
soils is 3-6%. My goal is to maintain SOL
of at least 4%.
soil organic matter helps soil quality in multiple ways:
- retain water during dry spells
-holds nutrients so they are available to plants
-mineralizes and releases N
-assists in out competing soil borne diseases
-improves the physical structure of the soil
-helps feed beneficial soil organisms including earthworms,
bacteria and fungi.
Bulk Spreading of Inputs:
-Usually this is done on top of summer growing cover crops on blocks that are not in the cash crop
part of their rotation, or it is done in the fall or early winter after the cash crop has been harvested
for the year. Timing can be tricky!
-Based on soil test results we frequently bulk spread lime, bon char and potassium sulfate.
Sometimes we also apply gypsum, rock phosphate and greensand by bulk spread.
-Bulk spreading is generally done via a custom hire gps assisted spreading truck, but occasionally
we have rented a tractor towed spreading unit as in this picture.
When Liming Keep in Mind ….
Balancing the Base Saturation of Soils:
Research suggests that soils with base nutrients balanced at
70% Calcium, 12% Magnesium and 3-5% Potassium result in
the best plant growth.
Gypsum contains almost 80% calcium, but unlike ground
lime the application of Gypsum will not change the soil pH.
This means Gypsum can be used to increase the Calcium in
the soil without changing the pH.
Using correct high mag or high CA lime can help achieve the
ideal base saturation ratio in the soil.
An Imants Spading Machine Can Gently Turn Soils In Preparation for
Planting. They are also excellent at incorporating cover crop residue.
Tillage
Hand turning soil with a fork is fairly gentle compared to a
rototiller.
Tillage
• Excess tillage can be detrimental to soil health. As a rule we try to minimize tillage unless there is a reason to do it that outweighs the reasons not to do it.
• We try to use tools for tillage that minimize damage to the soil structure. For instance we use a spader and chisel plow for primary tillage instead of a moldboard plow or disk harrow in most situations.
Mineralization and Soil Organic Matter:
In a moment we will consider ways to add organic matter to soils. However, conserving
and minimizing the loss of organic matter is a first consideration in SOM management.
SOM is lost due to mineralization. This means that during the warm times of the year
when the soil is biologically active, organic matter is broken down due to exposure to air
and microorganisms. This can be a good thing, as N is released in this process
contributing to plant nutrition.
Growing vegetables and other horticultural row crops encourages rapid loss of SOM due
to mineralization. This is because of the frequent tillage operations that are usually
necessary to grow these crops encourages rapid mineralization.
Growers need to manage their soil tillage operations to minimize the unnecessary loss
of SOM. Generally gentler tillage methods and reduced tillage will help minimize the
loss of SOM. Exmps.- no till, minimal till, chisel plow instead of moldboard, spader
instead of tiller.
Moldboard Plow
Fertilizer
or Cover
Crop
Seed
Spinner
Perfecta Field
CultivatorCelli Spading Machine
Bed Forming Requires Fairly
Intense Soil Tillage
We Use a Chisel Plow For Primary Tillage in our
Rocky Soils, We use the Spader in our rock free
ground. In both cases mowing down the cover
crop prior to tillage is usually a critical step.
Overall the process of growing vegetables can be pretty hard on the long term soil
fertility and structure. Lots of tillage is involved to make beds and manage weeds (bare
fallow, repeated cultivations, post harvest tillage, etc.)
This is why minimizing the intensity of these steps is so important, and also why soil
regeneration periods of cover crops are so important in the rotations.
Cultivation with the Gs
Cover Crops are an essential addition to
most soil fertility programs!
This picture shows a hairy vetch cover crop in late May just prior to
incorporation.
Cover Crops can have numerous benefits for multiple aspects of
the farm system. They can help with fertility by:
-Leguminous cover crops can fix N from the air into plant available
soil forms.
-Cover crops can help capture nutrients and prevent them from
leaching out of the topsoil.
-Cover crop roots can mine nutrients from lower soil horizons,
bring them to the surface, and make them more available to crop
plants.
-Cover Crops help prevent soil loss due to erosion by protecting
the soil surface from water and wind exposure.
-Cover crop biomass helps maintain or even increase the SOM!
-Cover crops can help reduce or prevent compaction and maintain
good soil structure and aggregation.
This research plot experiment
suffered massive erosion and soil
degradation due to a lack of a
cover crop.
Cover Crops can help reduce the
magnitude of wind and soil erosion.
Here red clover was interseeded
between rows of brassicas when the
brassicas were about half grown (at
the final cultivation.) This picture is
the field the next spring after the
brassica residue was flail mowed
down.
Interseeding of
Red Clover
between
Brassica rows.We often also
interseed clover into
cucurbit, corn and
tomato crops. Seeds
are spun prior to the
last cultivation and
then cultivated into
the surface for
germination.
We Frequently Plant a combination of Hairy Vetch and Oats in the late summer and
fall (for us seeding anytime from Aug 20th until Oct. 1 seems to work ok) The oats will
winter kill leaving a solid stand of vetch to regrow in the spring. We plant this in
situations where we will be growing a mid season to late season planted vegetable
crop the following season. The vetch needs until at least early may to get good
growth the following spring, and until late May to maximize growth. Since the seed is
expensive it is best planted only where it will be allowed to fix maximum N.
This picture is from late May
Another combination that we frequently use is to plant field peas and oats in late summer or
early fall. Both of these crops will winterkill leaving only dead residue in the spring. For this
reason I use this for blocks that will be planted with early April planted vegetable crops. Field
Peas and Oats can also be spring seeded in situations where there is a bare field in the spring
and vegetable crop planting is not planned until July or later.
Field Peas and
Oats
Buckwheat Cover Crops are grown mostly for weed suppression,
but they also make phosphorous more available to the following
plants. They produce a little organic matter, but not as much as
other cover crop choices.
Winter Rye is an
effective cover crop
for winter
protection and
biomass
production!
Sorghum Sudan is a
superb summer
season cover crop for
biomass and also for
weed suppression.
Sorghum Sudan can be seeded with red clover in midsummer. The
clover will grow in the under story and then take over the following year
after the sorghum sudan winterkills.
Notice the different ages of cover crops in this section.
This is because as older successions of vegetables are
harvested cover crops are immediately seeded to avoid
prolonged periods of bare ground or weed growth.
RotationsRules of Thumb at Red Fire Farm:
-Never repeat crop families any more often than 1
out of 4 years, preferably longer.
-Always grow pre and post cash crop cover crops.
Keep the soil covered with managed (not weeds)
living vegetation at all times. The only exception is
during bare fallows and stale seed bed operations
that are aimed toward weed management.
-Incorporate longer term sod cover crops as much
as possible.
-Attempt to have at least 1/3 of the total plantable
acreage on the farm growing summer cover crops
each season.
-Use extra compost to compensate for situations
where summer cover crops can not be afforded as
frequently as ideal. (PYO areas, Greenhouses,
Land Tenure issues.)
Currently we have an entire farm in cover crop in Montague. In 2011 we will move most
of our vegetable crops onto this land and rest (ie. put into sod cover crop) most of our
Granby acreage.
I do not hold to any hard and fast rotational rules beyond
the guidelines described above. Every summer a detailed
plan is made for the following summer, and fall cover crops
are tailored to this plan accordingly.
Compost and MulchApplying compost and mulch materials (especially if they are from off farm
sources) are a way to jump start the fertility of soils. At RFF we apply
compost to each field at about 10 tons of compost per acre every other
year. We used to use less when we had more land in summer cover crop,
but with more intensive cropping we have increased frequency of compost
applications accordingly.
Adding Compost to the soil is an excellent way to improve the SOM! Not
all compost is the same. The nutrient content is dependent on the parent
materials of the compost pile. Make sure compost is mature before
applying it to ground immediately prior to planting. Alternatively allow
additional breakdown time prior to planting if compost is immature.
We make compost using very low key methods. Our base
material is leaves that are dumped for free by local
landscape contractors. To this we add all the scraps from
our vegetable packing shed. We fluff and turn the windrow
piles about every 4-6 months using a tractor loader.
Since we are unable to make as much
compost as we need, we do also purchase
significant quantities from other compost
producers in our area. Dairy based
compost is preferred since it tends to be
higher in P which our soils are generally
low in. We pay around $25 per yard and
have a total compost bill of around
$10,000 per fall.
Compost is spread onto the fields in the
fall as a top dress onto established cover
crops. The compost is not incorporated
until spring tillage. We just do not have
time to do spring compost application.
Biomass Mulches are
another good way to add
organic matter to soils.
Mulch is often applied for a
primary purpose of weed
suppression, but in the long
term this is also a great way
to build soil quality!
Straw mulch
(above) and
shredded leaf
mulch (left) are
used to protect
garlic through the
winter, and then
discourage weed
growth. This soil
will also have
increased OM!
Hay can also be used as a mulch, but beware of possible weed seed
Sometimes we cut rye straw from our fields for using as
mulch later, but usually we purchase this biomass in due to
our limited land base.
Mulching is a lot of work and expense, but
when factored for weed management and
soil fertility it can be worth it for some crops.
Fertility Inputs
From the bag:
Bagged organic fertilizers can provide the
added boost that crops need in order to grow
well.
Adding N – P – K and other nutrients from a bag.
Soils often need additions of nutrients above and
beyond those that can be provided by cover
crops and compost additions alone. This is true
particularly for soils that have not been well
managed in the past, for soils that are sandy, and
for situations with intensive cropping rotations.Nutrient Cycling
Sources of plant nutrients in the soil. Mineral nutrients are obtained by plants through root uptake from the soil solution. Sources of
these soluble nutrients in the soil include:
1) weathering of soil minerals, 2) decomposition of plant residues, animal remains, and soil microorganisms, 3) application of
fertilizers and liming materials, 4) application of manures, composts, biosolids (sewage sludge) and other organic amendments, 5) N-
fixation by legumes, 6) ground rock powders or dusts including greensand, basalt, and rock phosphate, 7) inorganic industrial
byproducts, 8) atmospheric deposition, such as N and S from acid rain or N-fixation by lightning discharges, and 9) deposition of
nutrient-rich sediment from erosion and flooding.
Losses of plant nutrients from the soil. Mineral nutrients also can be lost from the soil system and become unavailable for plant
uptake. Nutrient losses are not only costly and wasteful, but they can be a source of environmental contamination when they reach
lakes, rivers, and groundwater. Nutrient losses occur through: 1) Runoff - loss of dissolved nutrients in water moving across the soil
surface, 2) Erosion - loss of nutrients in or attached to soil particles that are removed from fields by wind or water movement, 3)
Leaching - loss of dissolved nutrients in water that moves down through the soil to groundwater or out of the field through drain lines,
4) Gaseous losses to the atmosphere - primarily losses of different N forms through volatilization and denitrification, and 5) Crop
removal - plant uptake and removal of nutrients from the field in harvested products.
I feel that it is important and appropriate for farmers and gardeners to strive as
much as possible for closed loop systems that retain and recycle nutrients
within the soils, farm and landscape levels. Nevertheless, compared to more
extensive agronomic crop systems, gardens and vegetable fields are typically
so intensive in nature that the idealistic goal of complete nutrient cycling is
rarely feasible. In most cases some additions of bagged nutrients are
necessary to achieve adequate soil fertility and crop growth.
The organic philosophy is
to add these nutrients in
the most basic
unprocessed form
possible, and then let the
biologically active soil
release the nutrients and
make them available slowly
as the plants need them.
Chemical fertilizers are
often much more soluble
causing plants to overdose
and grow to rapidly and
succulently.
Nitrogen- (N) this nutrient exists in the soil in a fairly soluble form, so it is subject to
leaching and volitization. Most plants need quite a bit of N in order to grow well.
Recommended organic sources include:
-Grow leguminous cover crops! These plants, in conjunction with the symbiotic bacteria
who live in their roots, can fix N from the air into the soil. This means that they convert N2
from the atmosphere into plant available forms in the soil. Legumes such as Hairy Vetch,
Clovers and Alfalfa can fix over 100LBs of N per acre!
bagged organic N sources are
expensive:
-Blood Meal 12-0-0
-Legume Meals (alfalfa, soybean,
etc. but watch out for GMO)
-Dehydrated manures (chicken)
-Chilean Nitrate -this is a naturally
occurring mined source of N.
Although it is naturally occurring,
its use is strictly regulated for
organic production due to its very
soluble nature (it acts like a
chemical N fertilizer) I don’t
recommend it except in special
circumstances.
Phosphorous: (P)
Often the most expensive nutrient to obtain in an organic
form. Many agricultural soils with a history of chemical crop
production have an excess of P in reserves, but for soils that
don’t P will likely need to be added.
-Manures and Compost made from manures tend to have lots
of P.
-Bone Meal is the most available form of organic P. (1-11-0)
Bon Char also is a good source of P.
-Ground Rock or Colloidal Phosphate contains at analyses of
0-2-0 in available P. Additionally this rock dust contains up to
30% phosphorous, but most is not immediately available and
must be worked on by a biologically active soil in order to
become available to plants over the years. Applications of
Rock phosphate are a long term investment in the soil!
Potassium (K)
Organic Forms of K include:
-Sol Po Mag – this is a mined material with about 22% K. Also
contains 11% Mg, so only use in situations that also need Mg.
-Potassium Sulfate- (0-0-50) –must use from a mined source.
-Wood Ashes- these can contain up to 5% K. Wood ashes
also contain a small amount of P plus bits of trace minerals.
Quite soluble, so apply carefully to avoid burning plants at
max of 5 Lbs per 100 square feet. Once per year several
weeks in advance of planting.) These also have a liming
affect.
- Manures and Compost also contain K.
Using Animals to help cycle
nutrients:
At Red Fire Farm we now have a flock of about 400 laying hens that rotate
weekly on pasture. The pasture is usually cover crops of legumes and clovers.
Although this flock is not large enough to impact the fertility needs of our entire
acreage, they do make a positive impact on the fields where they are rotated.
In the future we intend
to add more poultry and
possibly other livestock
into the farm rotation,
but only if they pay their
way in terms of
profitability.
Healthy Soil =
Healthy Crops!
Summery: To achieve healthy soil:
-Add lots of biomass amendments (compost, cover crops, mulches.)
-Add lime and gypsum to raise the pH, Calcium and Magnesium levels to those
recommended for the crop. (For most crops a pH of 6.5-7 is ideal)
-Raise the P and K levels by doing bulk applications of fertilizers once or less per
year.
-Conserve soil structure and nutrient loss by minimizing tillage and doing it as
gently as possible.
-Provide supplemental bagged organic fertilizers in the planting bed just prior to
planting a crop. Incorporate rather than band the fertilizer for the best biological
activity.
-Make all input additions based on a regular soil testing program!
Ryan Voiland
Red Fire Farm
7 Carver St.
Granby, MA 01033
www.redfirefarm.com
413-467-SOIL