Researchers report in the Soil Science Society of America Journal that 3-D laser scanning can provide a more thorough analysis of a soil’s quality, helping to further understand how healthy crops are produced.

Why are the number of students studying soil science as a major declining across the United States?

Like something from a horror movie, the swarm of bacteria ripples purposefully toward their prey, devours it and moves on.

How good are you at estimating soil texture-by-feel? Read about how to learn this skill in the Journal of Natural Resources and Life Sciences Education.

Ratnesh Kumar keeps his prototype soil sensors buried in a box under his desk. He hopes that one day farmers will be burying the devices under their crops.

The Soil Science Society of America (SSSA) applauds the visionary action taken by Senator Sherrod Brown and his colleagues in the Senate who helped usher in legislation to recognize soils as an "essential" natural resource, placing soil on par with water and air.

Crop yield is highly dependent on soil plant-available water, the portion of soil water that can be taken up by plant roots.

Soil variation occurs across multiple geographic scales ranging from vast climatic regions of the Earth to a 50 acre farm field to the molecular world of soil nano-particles in a pinch of soil

A handful of soil is a lot like a banana, strawberry and apple smoothie: Blended all together, it is hard to tell what's in there, especially if you have never tasted the fruits before.

Changes in soil carbon occur with changes in land management. Scientists at Oak Ridge National Laboratory and The University of Tennessee investigated quantifying soil carbon changes over large regions. They integrated remote sensing products with a national carbon accounting framework in a project funded by the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Office of Earth Science.

Scientists at the John Innes Centre in Norwich have discovered how roots find their way past obstacles to grow through soil. The discovery, described in the forthcoming edition of Science, also explains how germinating seedlings penetrate the soil without pushing themselves out as they burrow.

Applying organic fertilizers, such as those resulting from composting, to agricultural land could increase the amount of carbon stored in these soils and contribute significantly to the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, according to new research published in a special issue of Waste Management & Research (Special issue published today by SAGE).