Soil Health: Principles Before Labels
At Farming Forward, we work with producers across West-Central Alberta who raise cattle, grow forage, seed cover crops, manage weeds, or just want to leave their land better than they found it. Some use conventional practices. Some lean into organic or regenerative approaches. Others might not use a label at all, but they’re still building better soil every season.
No matter where you're starting from, we believe in supporting practices that make your soil more resilient, productive, and ready for the next generation. That’s where the soil health principles come in.
What Are the Soil Health Principles?
The soil health principles used across North America today were formalized by field experts and conservationists with the USDA NRCS, but the ideas behind them - minimizing disturbance, keeping soil covered, and working with natural cycles - have been practiced by land stewards for generations, in many regions of the world.
These principles aren’t tied to any one label or farming system. Whether you're conventional, regenerative, or somewhere in between, they offer flexible, field-tested guidelines that can be adapted to your land, your goals, and your management style.
Here’s a quick look at the five commonly recognized principles:
1. Minimize Disturbance
Tillage, overuse of fertilizers or herbicides, and compaction can all disrupt soil structure and biology. Reducing mechanical and chemical disturbance helps protect soil microbes, improve water retention, and maintain organic matter.
2. Keep Soil Covered
Soil left bare is vulnerable to erosion, drying out, or crusting. Keeping a protective layer on top—whether through cover crops, crop residue, mulch, or perennial cover—helps conserve moisture and shield against the elements.
3. Maintain Living Roots
Green, growing roots help feed the soil food web and keep biological activity going. Whether it’s pasture, cover crops, or relay cropping, keeping living roots in the soil for more of the year supports better nutrient cycling.
4. Diversify Plants
Different plants bring different benefits. Including a mix of species (in rotation or together) helps break pest cycles, builds soil resilience, and promotes diverse soil biology.
5. Integrate Livestock
Grazing—when managed properly—can mimic natural cycles by returning nutrients to the soil, spreading plant matter, and encouraging deep root growth. It’s one more tool in the toolbox, especially for mixed or forage-based operations.
More Than a Trend
You might hear these ideas described as “regenerative agriculture,” but that doesn’t mean you need to overhaul your farm overnight or change how you define yourself.
In fact, many producers have practiced these principles for decades, long before the term “regenerative” was popular. We believe regeneration is a direction, not a destination. It looks different on every farm and evolves with the seasons, the land, and your operation.
““Regenerative” (adj.): relating to the process of renewal, restoration, and growth.”
Supporting What Works for You
At Farming Forward, we’re here to offer resources, trial results, grazing support, and peer connections that can help you put these principles to work, on your terms. Whether you're seeding polycrops, rotating pasture, battling compaction, or managing forage blends, we want to be part of your soil-building journey.
There’s no one-size-fits-all prescription. There’s just good stewardship, and producers who care deeply about their land.
Learn More & Get Involved
Soil health isn’t one-size-fits-all, and every field, pasture, and operation is different. Whether you're fine-tuning your grazing rotation, wondering how to try a cover crop, or just curious what others are doing, we’re here to help.
Have a question? An idea?
We’re always happy to hear from producers, and we’re interested in supporting on-farm trials, soil health projects, and peer learning in West-Central Alberta.
Get in touch at info@farmingforward.ca or explore our current projects at www.farmingforward.ca.
