Evaluating Soil Health and Water Retention in Perennial Grass and Wheat-Fallow Systems on Cultivated, Calcareous Soils in Northern Utah

Commodities

Practices

Dryland farming systems in Northern Utah are increasingly vulnerable to crop failure due to weather variability and prolonged drought. Winter wheat growers cite repeated crop loss in a historically reliable wheat-fallow system. Moreover, USDA NASS data show dryland wheat abandonment exceeded 10% from 2013-2023 across multiple western semiarid states. As economic pressures compound with soil degradation inherent to long-term wheat-fallow management, growers seek strategies to improve system resilience.

Previous onsite research indicates that up to 80% of yield gains from compost amendments are attributable to non-nutritive improvements in soil physical function rather than nutrient supply(Atoloye et al., 2024; Stukenholtz et al., 2002), highlighting the central role of soil organic matter and hydrology in dryland productivity. This project evaluates whether increasing duration of perennial grass establishment promotes similar recovery of soil function and organic matter in calcareous dryland systems (Filipović et al., 2025; Santana et al., 2022). Perennials may be introduced through harvestable perennial grain systems or enrollment in the Conservation Reserve Program, both shown to improve soil health elsewhere (Baer et al., 2025). By comparing calcareous soils managed under wheat-fallow and perennial grass systems, we aim to characterize the effects of perennial grass establishment on soil organic and inorganic carbon, aggregation, infiltration, and water retention.

Our findings will be disseminated through field days, webinars, and publicly available factsheets to producers with a science-based timeline for soil function recovery, clarify calcareous dryland carbon dynamics, and identify economically feasible pathways to build soil organic matter in drylands of Northern Utah.

Research Objective 1: Assess the potential for the recovery of soil physical health in Northern Utah calcareous silt loam soils under increasing perennial grass establishment durations (PED) compared to long-term wheat-fallow management by quantifying soil organic and inorganic carbon along the PED chronosequence.

Research Objective 2: Assess the recovery of soil-water dynamics in Northern Utah calcareous silt loam soils under increasing perennial grass establishment durations (PED) compared to long-term wheat-fallow management by quantifying hydrologic properties of soil along the PED chronosequence.

Educational Objective 1: Increase producer understanding of soil organic matter and water retention benefits associated with perennial grass establishment in dryland systems of the Intermountain West.

Educational Objective 2: Disseminate research findings to extension professionals and the scientific community to contribute to broader understanding of soil organic and inorganic carbon and hydrologic responses in semi-arid calcareous systems.

Educational Objective 3: Provide hands-on research training to undergraduate students in soil sampling, laboratory analysis, and data interpretation during the project period.