{"id":13093,"date":"2017-05-22T08:52:35","date_gmt":"2017-05-22T15:52:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/plantingseedsblog.cdfa.ca.gov\/wordpress\/?p=13093"},"modified":"2020-02-25T09:58:30","modified_gmt":"2020-02-25T16:58:30","slug":"soil-health-institute-releases-action-plan-from-agri-pulse","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/plantingseedsblog.cdfa.ca.gov\/wordpress\/index.php\/2017\/05\/22\/soil-health-institute-releases-action-plan-from-agri-pulse\/","title":{"rendered":"Soil Health Institute releases action plan – from Agri Pulse"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Soil<\/a>By Steve Davies, Agri Pulse<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Farmers and ranchers need better tools to measure and understand the value of soil health, the Soil Health Institute said in a sweeping action plan released recently.<\/p>\n

\u201cEnriching Soil, Enhancing Life<\/a>\u201d lays out a series of goals along with accompanying \u201cdata gaps\u201d that need to be addressed with research. Among the more ambitious objectives: development of a national soil health assessment.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s really become increasingly recognized that soil health represents one of those rare win-win situations where what is good for the farmer or the rancher is also good for the environment,\u201d said C. Wayne Honeycutt, president and CEO of the institute and a former deputy chief for science and technology at the Natural Resources Conservation Service. But he added, \u201cTo achieve more advances in soil health, it really does require science-based information.\u201d<\/p>\n

Honeycutt spoke at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., where he was joined by Bill Buckner, president and CEO of the Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation; Keith Alverson, a 6th<\/span><\/sup>-generation farmer who serves as a member of the Corn Board of the National Corn Growers Association; Leonard Jordan, acting chief of USDA\u2019s Natural Resources Conservation Service; Jerry Lynch, vice president and chief sustainability officer at General Mills; and Michael Doane, director of working lands at The Nature Conservancy. Bruce Knight, former NRCS chief and the principal and founder of Strategic Conservation Solutions, moderated.<\/p>\n

The action plan calls for extensive research, both in laboratories and in the field, in order to develop tools that can be used to measure soil health, but also to establish the link between soil health and human health.<\/p>\n

“While it is recognized that soils are important for human health, a paucity of research exists on these relationships, especially when considered in light of the potential benefits likely to be realized,\u201d the plan says, listing as priorities the improvement of water quality through more efficient nutrient use, as well as increased carbon sequestration and a reduction of greenhouse gases.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn some soils and environments, improving soil health can enhance available water holding capacity, infiltration, and nutrient availability,\u201d the action plan says. \u201cHowever, specific relationships between soil organic carbon and AWHC, along with the relationships between SOC and water infiltration, differ among soils.\u201d<\/p>\n

Alverson, who farms corn and soybeans on 2,600 acres in South Dakota, said he has been working to increase organic matter in his soil.<\/p>\n

\u201cEach percentage (point) of increase in organic matter can hold about 1.43 acre inches of water,\u201d Alverson said. \u201cYou talk to some of the seed trade providers and they say that modern corn hybrids can produce about 10 bushels of grain for every inch of water that you provide the crops.\u201d<\/p>\n

After about 30 years of ridge-till farming, he said the organic matter has increased about 1.5 percent, which translates into \u201cabout 20 bushels to the acre of added production capacity that we see on an annual basis.\u201d<\/p>\n

The renewed focus on soil health is necessary because the world\u2019s remaining arable soil \u201cis degrading at rapid rate,\u201d said General Mills\u2019 Lynch, quoting from the action plan. \u201cWe\u2019ve got a real challenge in front of us.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAgriculture is a great part of our economy but we have unintended effects,\u201d The Nature Conservancy\u2019s Doane said. \u201cWe need to recognize those and we think we can address them.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMany of our waterways are straining under the stress of sediment and nutrient loads that cause eutrophication, declining fisheries, and clean water problems,\u201d Doane said, estimating that if half of all ag land in the U.S. now planted to row crops were managed for soil health, \u201cwe would eliminate 116 million tons of soil erosion annually\u201d and cut the amount of nutrients lost to the environment by 344 million pounds.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn 33 years, there is going to be another 2 billion people on this earth to feed,\u201d Honeycutt said. \u201cWe\u2019re losing land at an alarming rate, and farmers are increasingly challenged to deal with more and more extreme weather events \u2013 all the way from drought to heavy precipitation.\u201d<\/p>\n

He and the other speakers repeatedly emphasized the benefits to both the environment and producers of addressing soil health. But Honeycutt also said, \u201cWe know farmers and ranchers are businessmen and women. … It has to be economically viable for them, and so we\u2019ve identified specific actionable steps to quantify the profitability of these soil health-promoting practices.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lynch said he is excited about the development of measurement tools. \u201cHaving a measurement system that is pragmatic \u2026 that everybody agrees on is really important, so we\u2019re all pulling in the same direction.\u201d<\/p>\n

The institute was established in December 2015 with a $20 million, 10-year investment from the Noble Foundation and “ongoing support from the Farm Foundation,” Buckner said.<\/p>\n

Some of the action plan\u2019s goals, along with \u201cdesired outcomes,\u201d are excerpted below.<\/p>\n

Goal: Enhance productivity and resilience through improved soil health<\/strong><\/p>\n

Desired outcomes: Enhanced soil productivity and resilience to extreme weather by increasing available water holding capacity, increasing water infiltration into soils, suppressing soil-borne plant pathogens, and increased nutrient availability.<\/p>\n

Goal: Quantify and enhance environmental and human health benefits that result from improved soil health<\/strong><\/p>\n

Desired outcomes: This research will result in improved water quality through increased nutrient use efficiency and reduced nutrient losses, increased climate change mitigation through reduced greenhouse gas emissions and increased carbon sequestration, and will establish the current state of knowledge on the relationships between soil health and human health.<\/p>\n

Goal: Determine the appropriate measurements to initiate a national soil health assessment and to assess soils at specific locations, including a framework for comparing new and established measurements.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Desired outcomes: Widely accepted measurements for routine, national-scale use to quantify physical, chemical, and biological properties and processes in soils will have valid relationships to soil health. The suite of routine and widely used measurements will be open to new and improved measurements and methodologies.<\/p>\n

Goal: Design and conduct pilot studies to evaluate approaches to large scale assessments of soil health<\/strong><\/p>\n

Desired outcomes: Data from measurements chosen for pilot assessments will be used to establish a national dataset that will eventually include national assessment data, and will represent management systems from a range of poor to excellent soil health status nationwide, such that they provide information on the functioning of essential biological, physical, and chemical soil properties and processes:<\/p>\n

Goal: Conduct a full National Soil Health Assessment<\/strong><\/p>\n

Desired outcomes: The full NSHA will:<\/p>\n