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Soil balancing within organic farming: negotiating meanings and boundaries in an alternative agricultural community of practice

Author

Listed:
  • Caroline Brock

    (University of Missouri)

  • Douglas Jackson-Smith

    (The Ohio State University)

  • Steven Culman

    (The Ohio State University)

  • Douglas Doohan

    (The Ohio State University)

  • Catherine Herms

    (The Ohio State University)

Abstract

Soil balancing is widely used in organic farming, but little is known about the practice because technical knowledge and goals for the practice are produced and negotiated within an alternative community of practice (CoP). We used a review of the private soil balancing literature and semi-structured interviews with farmers and consultants to document the knowledge, shared meanings, and goals of key actors within the soil balancing CoP. Our findings suggest this CoP is dominated by discourse between private consultants and farmers, with few contributions to or from scientists or the peer reviewed literature. The idea of soil balancing is centered around improving soil quality through adjustments in Base Cation Saturation Ratios (BCSR), and practitioners report a wide range of positive agronomic outcomes. For most soil balancers, however, BCSR is only one part of a broader approach to soil health management that also utilizes traditional soil fertility recommendations and soil health-building cultural management practices. Meanwhile, a survey of land grant university soil fertility specialists and the peer-reviewed literature documented a high degree of skepticism and a lack of scientific evidence that BCSR can boost crop yields. We conclude that this scientific discourse reflects a disconnect from the practices and meanings used in the soil balancing CoP. While tensions between the dominant and niche agricultural knowledge systems are not unique, we believe a better appreciation for the nuanced meanings and goals within the soil balancing CoP present an opening for expanded collaborations with scientists doing research on soil health.

Suggested Citation

  • Caroline Brock & Douglas Jackson-Smith & Steven Culman & Douglas Doohan & Catherine Herms, 2021. "Soil balancing within organic farming: negotiating meanings and boundaries in an alternative agricultural community of practice," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 38(2), pages 449-465, June.
  • Handle: RePEc:spr:agrhuv:v:38:y:2021:i:2:d:10.1007_s10460-020-10165-y
    DOI: 10.1007/s10460-020-10165-y
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Gloy, Brent A. & Akridge, Jay T. & Whipker, Linda D., 2000. "Sources Of Information For Commercial Farms: Usefulness Of Media And Personal Sources," International Food and Agribusiness Management Review, International Food and Agribusiness Management Association, vol. 3(2), pages 1-16.
    2. Jasper Eshuis & Marian Stuiver, 2005. "Learning in context through conflict and alignment: Farmers and scientists in search of sustainable agriculture," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 22(2), pages 137-148, June.
    3. John Seely Brown & Paul Duguid, 2001. "Knowledge and Organization: A Social-Practice Perspective," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 12(2), pages 198-213, April.
    4. R. Michael Lehman & Cynthia A. Cambardella & Diane E. Stott & Veronica Acosta-Martinez & Daniel K. Manter & Jeffrey S. Buyer & Jude E. Maul & Jeffrey L. Smith & Harold P. Collins & Jonathan J. Halvors, 2015. "Understanding and Enhancing Soil Biological Health: The Solution for Reversing Soil Degradation," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 7(1), pages 1-40, January.
    5. Julie Ingram, 2008. "Agronomist–farmer knowledge encounters: an analysis of knowledge exchange in the context of best management practices in England," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 25(3), pages 405-418, September.
    6. Ingram, Julie & Dwyer, Janet & Gaskell, Peter & Mills, Jane & Wolf, Pieter de, 2018. "Reconceptualising translation in agricultural innovation: A co-translation approach to bring research knowledge and practice closer together," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 70(C), pages 38-51.
    7. Lisa Lobry de Bruyn & Susan Andrews, 2016. "Are Australian and United States Farmers Using Soil Information for Soil Health Management?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 8(4), pages 1-33, March.
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    Cited by:

    1. William Lacy, 2023. "Local food systems, citizen and public science, empowered communities, and democracy: hopes deserving to live," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 40(1), pages 1-17, March.
    2. Erma Suryani & Ulfa Emi Rahmawati & Alifia Az Zahra, 2024. "Improving Maize Production and Farmers’ Income Using System Dynamics Model," Journal of Agricultural Science, Canadian Center of Science and Education, vol. 14(6), pages 1-68, April.

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