Ray Weil

About

Professor Ray Weil is an internationally recognized expert on soil science, nutrient cycling, soil organic matter, and cover crop systems for soil health and water quality. His methods for soil microbial biomass and active carbon (POXC) are adopted by USDA/NRCS and researchers worldwide. His research on multi-purpose cover crops and ecological approaches to soil management is used by landscape managers and farms, large and small. He has advised on food security and soil management in Africa and other developing regions. Weil teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in soil science, soil fertility, and sustainable agriculture, and has developed and taught courses such as Soil and Environmental Quality, Fundamentals of Soil Science, Principles of Soil Fertility, Issues in Sustainable Agriculture, and Advanced Soil-Plant Relationships. His program at the University of Maryland integrates teaching, extension, and research, aiming to benefit all three. Weil's research focuses on organic matter management for soil health, sustainable farming systems, and soil management for improved nutrient cycling and water quality, with a particular emphasis on cover crop management. He has contributed significantly to promoting sustainable agricultural practices and ecological soil management, and his textbook, The Nature and Properties of Soils, is the most widely used soils textbook in the US and around the world.

Research topics

• Agronomy
• Environmental science
• Economics
• Biology
• Business
• Mathematics
• Agricultural economics
• Ecology
• Finance
• Economic growth

Selected publications

• Developments in Agricultural Soil Quality and Health: Reflections by the Research Committee on Soil Organic Matter Management

  Frontiers in Environmental Science · 2019-07-16 · 76 citations

  articleOpen access

  The North Central Education and Research Activity Committee (NCERA-59) was formed in 1952 to address how soil organic matter formation and management practices affect soil structure and productivity. It is in this capacity that we comment on the science supporting soil quality and associated soil health assessment for agricultural lands with the goal of hastening progress in this important field. Even though the suite of soil quality indicators being applied by U.S. soil health efforts closely m…

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• The joint effects of information and financing constraints on technology adoption: Evidence from a field experiment in rural Tanzania

  Journal of Development Economics · 2021 · 67 citations

  Senior authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

• Assessing and understanding non-responsiveness of maize and soybean to fertilizer applications in African smallholder farms

  Agriculture Ecosystems & Environment · 2020 · 45 citations

  in up to 65 % of farmer fields for specific study areas and/or growing seasons, while for others crop responses exceeded those levels. Unlike hypothesized, there were no consistent differences in crop fertilizer responses between the soil texture and land slope classes at any of the study sites. The variation in fertilizer effects on maize grain productivity across the study areas and growing seasons was most strongly related to the soil silt and clay content, and exchangeable cation balances of…

  PublisherDOI

• Scavenging and recycling deep soil nitrogen using cover crops on mid-Atlantic, USA farms

  Agriculture Ecosystems & Environment · 2020 · 34 citations

  Senior authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

• Can permanganate oxidizable carbon predict soil function responses to soil organic matter management?

  Soil Science Society of America Journal · 2021-05-28 · 26 citations

  articleSenior author

  Abstract We evaluatedpermanganate oxidizable carbon (POXC) as a rapid test for identifying soils where improved organic matter management could improve soil function. At three sites, pairs of fields with similar soils but contrasting management history (cropped vs. sod) were studied. Fields historically in sod had higher initial total organic C (TOC) and POXC than historically cropped fields. Two cover crop treatments (rye and no cover) were applied within fields. We examined responses to rye tr…

  PublisherDOI

Frequent coauthors

• K. R. Islam

  The Ohio State University

  10 shared

• Michel A. Cavigelli

  Beltsville Agricultural Research Center

  9 shared

• Nyle C. Brady

  6 shared

• Cheryl Palm

  6 shared

• Brian A. Needelman

  University of Maryland, College Park

  5 shared

• Katherine L. Tully

  University of Maryland, College Park

  5 shared

• Xiongxiong Nan

  5 shared

• Pedro A. Sánchez

  5 shared

Labs

• Soil Quality LabPI

Awards & honors

• FoodShot Global Groundbreaker Prize (2022)

Similar researchers at University of Maryland, College Park

• Robert Hillh-68
• Gurpal Toorh-41
• Marty Rabenhorsth-33