Soil Health Summit Addresses 'Next Frontier' in Agriculture

As the Soil Health Partnership embarks on its third year, the organization has high hopes for network expansion and soil data results that will contribute to a sea change in farming. The partnership held its third annual Soil Health Summit in Indianapolis Jan. 21 to 22, 2016 hosting more than 140 attendees, including farmers, agriculture industry leaders, environmental groups and university representatives.

The partnership is a data-driven initiative of the National Corn Growers Assn., with support from Monsanto and the Walton Family Foundation, as well as technical support from The Nature Conservancy and Environmental Defense Fund.

Demonstration farmers in the program collect data with the help of field managers and their agronomists in practices like cover crops, nutrient management and conservation tillage. The organization hopes to increase the number of demonstration farms enrolled to 60 this year.

The first day of the summit featured presentations on cover crop economics, precision land management and panel discussions from farmers and industry collaborators. On the second day, participants shared thoughts on the data collection, further collaboration opportunities and communication within the partnership and with those interested in the results.

Source: Soil Health Partnership