NACD made a notable return to this year's Commodity Classic, featuring a team of staff members, officers, and four producers who showcased insights from the Economics of Soil Health Systems Project at the NACD exhibit space. As the premier farmer-led agricultural tradeshow and education event, NACD played a crucial role in keeping soil health and conservation at the forefront of discussions within the realm of commodity farming. The event, held from February 28 to March 1 in Houston, Texas, boasted a record-breaking attendance of 11,500 participants and hosted more than 435 exhibitors.

This past fall, NACD and the Soil Health Institute--generously supported by the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service-- unveiled the findings of the Economics of Soil Health Systems Project. This comprehensive release included an executive summary and interviews with 30 producers, featuring fact sheets, narratives, and videos. To further amplify the project's impact, four of the participating producers took center stage at the NACD exhibit space at Commodity Classic. They shared valuable insights into their experiences with soil health practices, highlighting the direct impact on their operations. Moreover, they leveraged their expertise as producers to shed light on available assistance programs for fellow producers. The participating producers invited by NACD were Ricky Dollison of Georgia, Marquitrice Mangham of Georgia, Richard Cunningham of Minnesota, and Rodney Rulon of Indiana.

For a visual glimpse into the event, a collection of photos is available on the NACD Flickr page.

Soil Health Champion Neil Delk from Tennessee stopped by the NACD booth area to say hi!

(Pictured Left to Right:

This year, NACD awarded up to 10 Soil Health Champions a stipend covering some of the expenses to attend the 2024 Annual Meeting in San Diego, California, which took place from February 10 to 14. This opportunity brought producers together for networking and a time of education. We are excited to say more Champions attended than stipends were available!

Specific opportunities in the program for Soil Health Champions included the Sunday Morning Soil Health Champion Meet and Greet. Champions and other attendees had a special, informal presentation from Trintus Smith, CEO of Teralytic, giving an update on last year's introduction to the Soil Probes as the technology continues to evolve. This was followed by time for Q & A. During the meet and greet, the attendees also shared a bit about their operation and what they are doing for soil health. This, too, helped launch a time of discussion and further networking opportunities.

Another event at the annual meeting, the Conservation Expo, provided opportunities for Champions to gather at the Soil Health Champions booth to network, provide soil health information, and distribute giveaways to attendees. Throughout the meeting, there were plenty of educational opportunities for soil health education. One session, in particular, included Soil Health Champion Don Elsbernd of Iowa. He and the Soil Health Institute (SHI) gave a presentation entitled "Cultivating Resiliency: Linking Soil Health to Profitability." This session shared the Economics of Soil Health Systems project, which was a collaboration between NACD and SHI and funded by NRCS. Elsbernd was one of 30 participating producers in this project.

If you were unable to make the conference or you'd like to relive some of the events of the week, please be sure to check out the 2024 Annual Meeting Resource webpage. This has each day's Daily Digest newsletter, press releases, photos, slide decks from breakout sessions, and recordings of the major sessions on YouTube.

Partnership Grants fund researchers, educators, and agricultural service providers working in direct partnership with farmers in the Northeast. Funded projects will design and implement innovative solutions to agricultural sustainability challenges and strengthen connections between farmers and agricultural service providers.

Graduate Student Research Grants fund students conducting research under the supervision of a faculty advisor on sustainable agriculture topics of importance to Northeast farmers, agricultural researchers, and farm support professionals.

The NCR-SARE presents the "Farming Matters" video series, which features SARE grantees. Viewers gain insight into the inspiration and motivation driving farmers, researchers, and educators receiving SARE grants. Each episode provides a unique perspective into the innovative approaches SARE grantees employ to overcome challenges.

New episodes are released regularly on YouTube and announced on NCR-SARE's YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram accounts. Subscribe now to ensure you never miss an episode.

Graduate Student Grants are for Masters and PhD students enrolled in a graduate program at an accredited institution who want to research sustainable agriculture. The application deadline is May 10, 2024, at 12:00 p.m. ET.

Research and Education Grants encourage a systems approach to sustainable agriculture. They are mainly designed for teams of interdisciplinary researchers. The application deadline is Jun 7, 2024, at 12:00 p.m. ET.

Fresh Growth: Approaches to a More Sustainable Future from Western Ag Practitioners is a podcast that introduces you to farmers and ranchers from around the western United States who are finding innovative sustainable practices that enrich the natural resources we all care about. These successful, multi-generational operations experiment with new ideas and are making it pay. Listen in as they tell their story and provide advice for young or beginning farmers.

The Midwestern Regional Climate Center (MRCC), in collaboration with the USDA Midwest Climate Hub, has developed the Soil Temperature Climatology Tool that provides historical soil temperature statistics from 1991 to 2020 for the north-central U.S. This tool was released in the fall of 2023 and can be used to answer such questions as:

Dennis Todey, Director of the Midwest Climate Hub, and Danny Brouillette of the MRCC held a webinar to explain the significance of soil temperature at various times of the year and the process by which the tool was developed. The webinar also included a tour of the Soil Temperature Climatology tool and suggestions for interpretation. The webinar was recorded and is available for viewing at Midwest Climate Hub's website.

Additionally, you may learn more about the Soil Temperature Climatology tool here and download a fact sheet.

Soil Health Champion Ed McNamara in Minnesota reports that he had a great soybean harvest. He's even harvesting them from his parking lot on his farm! Now that's some healthy soil he's got on his farm. He also would like you to know it's a no-till soybean.

Soil Health Champion Burlin Finley of Florida shares, "Winter cover crops are not only good for soil health, but they're also pretty!" Another selling point - right?

Please continue to email Beth Mason, NACD North Central Region Representative, any photos, activities, events, news articles, and interviews so we can share with others!

Jeff and Glenda DeShon of Columbia, Missouri

Jon Jackson of Milledgeville, Georgia

If you, or someone you know, is interested in becoming a Soil Health Champion, please visit the NACD website for more information or contact Beth Mason.

Jerry Peery, Soil Health Champion of Clinton, Kentucky and the Hickman County Conservation District, passed away at the age of 84 on January 7, 2024.

His mentee in conservation, Jeff Rice, also a Soil Health Champion, shared with us his passing. He leaves quite a legacy behind – the 2014 Leopold Conservation Award Recipient for Kentucky, the American Soybean Association’s Conservation Legacy Award, the NACD Southeast Conservation Hall of Fame, the Kentucky Association of Conservation District’s Conservation Person of the Year, and NACD Soil Health Champion.

When first starting out with cover crops, growers might be tempted to immediately reduce nutrient inputs, anticipating an increase in nitrogen fixation and improved nutrient availability. In this video podcast, Steve Groff, Cover Crop Coach, shares how nutrient management with cover crops can be tricky.

The National Center for Appropriate Technology’s ATTRA Sustainable Agriculture program supports farmers, ranchers, agriculture educators, and land managers at every stage of their agricultural journey.

ATTRA, or Appropriate Technology Transfer for Rural Areas, is a trusted source of sustainable agriculture information and maintains a knowledge base of practical multimedia resources for farmers, ranchers, and educators.

Voices from the Field is ATTRA's podcast with new episodes dropping every Wednesday. You can listen at the ATTRA website or subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. Some of the latest episodes include:

Register today to attend the next Conservation Technology Information Center (CTIC) Conservation in Action Tour, June 10 to 11 in Arkansas.

Each year, CTIC hosts a tour that promises to be an immersive experience showcasing cutting-edge practices and innovations in conservation agriculture.