April 6, 2021
By Scott Weybright, College of Agricultural, Human, and Natural Resource Sciences
While soil compaction happens below the surface, it has many above-ground impacts on crops. Compacted soil doesn’t absorb water very well, makes it hard for plants to send out roots, inhibits plant nutrient absorption and can reduce crop yield by up to 20%.
Now with a three-year $450,000 New Innovator Award from the Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research (FFAR), Washington State University researcher Haly Neely will lead a team to study soil compaction on farms in Washington and beyond. Neely discusses the award on WSU’s Wheat Beat podcast.