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SOSC 630

Soil Fertility and Management

Course overview

You’ll take your knowledge of principles and practices of soil and fertiliser management to the next level.

Course information

Available semesters Semester 1 2024
Credits 20
Domestic fees $1,398.00

Please note: This course can’t be fully completed online as you will need to be on campus to complete some activities.

What you will learn

After successfully completing this course, you’ll be able to:

  1. Describe the effects of organic matter depletion on agricultural production and practices to maintain soil organic matter.
  2. Outline in detail the principles of soil fertility and nutrient cycling in pastoral agriculture, including soil fertility/climate/pasture yield relationships and soil pH/liming principles.
  3. Understand the principles and issues of soil management and water quality.
  4. Explain the principles, control and measurement of soil erosion.
  5. Describe effective trace element use in Aotearoa-New Zealand pastoral agriculture, including measurement, deficiencies and toxicities.
  6. Discuss current issues and research in soil fertility and management.
  7. Have a competent working knowledge of the Overseer® nutrient budget model: theory and demonstration for on-farm fertiliser recommendations and nutrient budgets.
  8. Understand the theory greenhouse gas losses in agriculture, calculate losses in Overseer®, the use of nitrification inhibitors and the New Zealand greenhouse gas inventory and the emissions trading scheme.

Course examiners

Jim Moir

Jim Moir

Associate Professor

Faculty of Agriculture and Life Sciences

jim.moir@lincoln.ac.nz