Effect of soil health management on soil water storage for climate resilience

Abstract Soil health (SH) management has been promoted to improve climate resilience across agricultural systems. An on‐farm field study was conducted to (1) evaluate the soil water storage (SWS) in SH and conventional (CV) management systems across four paired sites in Minnesota and Wisconsin and (2) to assess the response of these management systems to drought and significant rainfall (>25 mm in 24 h), using SWS as a primary metric. Two solar‐powered soil probes with multiple capacitance sensors were installed from July to October in 2021 and May to October in 2022 and 2023 to monitor soil moisture every 30 min at 10‐, 20‐, 40‐, 60‐, 80‐, and 100‐cm depths. Daily average SWS at the root zone (0‐ to 40‐cm depth) was significantly higher ( p < 0.0001) under SH management compared to CV management. Out of the four sites, three showed at least 7% greater SWS in SH management compared to CV management. During extreme drought periods, the SH management sites consistently had at least 13% higher SWS, showing potential for improved soil moisture retention and resilience to drought. Our analysis showed the SH system captured 35% more water than the CV system overall, but inconsistencies across the sites highlight the need for a larger dataset and more in‐depth analysis to better understand these patterns. Overall, the study indicates that SH systems with varying use of no‐till, cover cropping, and organic amendments can improve the soil's ability to store more water during the growing season, enhancing the resilience of US Midwest agricultural fields.