Soil Chemistry and Fertility
What We Do:
The goal is to establish a nationally recognized Soil Chemistry and Fertility Program based on innovative research and competitive graduate student training. This program conducts research aimed at determining more practical soil fertilization and management strategies that will maintain or enhance the value and quality of soils and optimize nutrient use efficiency all while ensuring the longevity of farming operations. Graduate training is a major component of the research and education within this program.
Research Priorities
Soil Health
The Natural Resource Conservation Service defines soil health as “the continued capacity of a soil to function as a vital living ecosystem that supports plants, animals, and humans”. We focus on the physical, chemical, and biological components of soil health in an effort to sustainably increase agricultural productivity across semi-arid lands.
Soil Carbon & Nitrogen Dynamics
With a changing climate, it is essential to understand the role of agriculture in biogeochemical processes. We evaluate how agroecosystems influence carbon and nitrogen cycling.
Regenerative Agriculture
Regenerative agriculture and conservation management systems are vital to the longevity of production agriculture in the Texas Southern High Plains. We aim to understand and optimize these agroecosystems in semi-arid environments by integrating cropping systems, conservation management, and livestock.
Industry Trials
Working closely with industry collaborators, we strive to help in the development and testing of various agricultural products. Our goal is to help producers across Texas in their efforts to remain productive stewards of the land.
End of the 2021 cotton harvest at the Lubbock Center!
Soil sampling crew in Beeville, TX
An American Avocet stopping by at the AgriLife Research Center in Lubbock, TX
Dr. Murilo Maeda, Extension Cotton Specialist, observing cotton research plots
Dr. Ray White defending his Ph.D. dissertation research
“There can be no life without soil and no soil without life; they have evolved together.”
– Charles E. Kellogg