Soil Acidity Management

Chris Augustin, North Dakota State University's Dickinson Research Extension Center director and soil scientist, will be speaking on remediating soil acidity at 2 p.m. MT on Thursday, March 3 during MonDak Ag Days.

Augustin has a lengthy background in agriculture, growing up on his family's farm and earning a Bachelor of Science and Master of Science degrees in natural resources management, with an emphasis on soil science, and his doctorate in soil science from North Dakota State University in 2019.

"I am a farm kid who loves science. I did not have the opportunity to go home and farm, so with my research plots I get to play farmer and scientist," he said. "Being able to teach people what we are learning and researching fills a bunch of niches I had growing up."

Augustin puts both of his passions to work at the Dickinson Research Extension Center (DREC), where he has been conducting extensive research on soil acidity.

"I am actually analyzing 1,200 soil samples that we have been doing research trials on for the past year," he added. "Soil acidity is a big soil health issue that has come to the forefront in the past 4-5 years and we are trying to figure how much lime is needed to remediate these soils."

He explained that there is not much research on soil acidity management for western North Dakota.

"In warmer areas such as Ohio, Iowa, Georgia, and states down that way, lime is a common practice. The problem with that is we do not have data that is applicable to MonDak area producers, so we are trying to develop recommendations that are for our soils, climate, and crop systems."

This will be Augustin's first time speaking at MonDak Ag Days.

"I am excited to meet MonDak producers and crop consultants face to face and figuring out what their problems are because at the end of the day, I am trying to find solutions for them," he said. "I look at it as a good opportunity to find out what issues are out there and use that input to drive future research and outreach."