The Soil Health Academy (SHA) provides one- to three-day in-person instruction, in both a classroom and field setting, on how to increase your soil health and profitability through practical, regenerative agricultural principles. These classes are scheduled across the country with different areas of focus.
Now, the SHA is providing this instruction in an online format through " Regen Ag 101," a virtual platform to deliver the same rich content from the on-farm schools to anyone who wants to attend. This online platform is self-paced and interactive, containing video lectures, case studies and supporting research.
Instructors include Soil Scientist Ray Archuleta and Regenerative Rancher Gabe Brown, among others. Registration for this course is $499 and gives the student one year's access to the course media and materials, 24/7. To explore this opportunity further, please visit the Soil Health Academy website. |
Chelsea Green Publishing is a great source for books on soil health, conservation, regenerative agriculture, organic farming and other related subjects. Some of their books are even available in audiobook format. The company also conducts regular giveaways for some of their books. The following are two featured books:
By Gene Logsdon
In his insightful new book, Holy Shit: Managing Manure to Save Mankind, contrary farmer Gene Logsdon provides the inside story of manure - our greatest, yet most misunderstood, natural resource. He begins by lamenting a modern society that not only throws away both animal and human manure, worth billions of dollars in fertilizer value, but that spends a staggering amount of money to do so. This wastefulness makes even less sense as the supply of mined or chemically synthesized fertilizers dwindles and their cost skyrockets. In fact, he argues, if we do not learn how to turn our manures into fertilizer to keep food production in line with the increasing population, our civilization, like so many that went before it, will inevitably decline.
With his trademark humor, his years of experience writing about both farming and waste management, and his uncanny eye for the small but important details, Logsdon artfully describes how to manage farm manure, pet manure and human manure to make fertilizer and humus.
By Judith D. Schwartz
(also available on Audible as an audiobook)
In Cows Save the Planet, journalist Judith D. Schwartz looks at soil as a crucible for our many overlapping environmental, economic and social crises. Schwartz reveals that for many of these problems - climate change, desertification, biodiversity loss, droughts, floods, wildfires, rural poverty, malnutrition and obesity - there are positive, alternative scenarios to the degradation and devastation we face. In each case, our ability to turn these crises into opportunities depends on how we treat the soil.
Drawing on the work of thinkers and doers, renegade scientists and institutional whistleblowers from around the world, Schwartz challenges much of the conventional thinking about global warming and other problems. For example, land can suffer from undergrazing as well as overgrazing, since certain landscapes, such as grasslands, require the disturbance from livestock to thrive. Regarding climate, when we focus on carbon dioxide, we neglect the central role of water in soil - "green water" - in temperature regulation. And much of the carbon dioxide that burdens the atmosphere is not the result of fuel emissions, but from agriculture; returning carbon to the soil not only reduces carbon dioxide levels but also enhances soil fertility.
|
THE SOIL QUILT:
A CHILDREN'S BOOK
|
By Amanda Radke, illustrator Michelle Weber
Presented by Ag Storytellers and the South Dakota Soil Health Coalition, prepare to get your hands dirty while working with soil on the farm! Meet Joey - a student from New York City who is spending his summer vacation with his grandma on the family's farm and ranch in South Dakota! Over the course of the summer, Joey learns the ins and outs of farm life. Working alongside his Grandma, he discovers how producers work to promote soil health with responsible conservation practices.
Along the way, Joey learns about the Dust Bowl, flies a drone, weeds the garden, sells produce at the farmers market and discovers that the land he loves looks like his favorite patchwork quilt his Grandma made him! The Soil Quilt offers a fun, educational and realistic story that will teach students how to be true stewards of the land! With stunning illustrations by Michelle Weber, the lessons will leap off the page in vibrant color and life-like imagery.
Written by Amanda Radke for third graders, this book features a glossary of terms, perfect for teachers to use as a spelling list in the classroom! The Soil Quilt is the fourth published agriculturally-accurate book produced by the Ag Storytellers team. Other titles include Levi's Lost Calf, Can-Do Cowkids and A Home Run For Peanuts.
|
A PICTURE IS WORTH A THOUSAND WORDS |
A.T. and Lucinda Cole retired to the Pitchfork Ranch in 2004 from Casa Grande, Ariz., where they lived for 33 years. It was then that they started their 17-year restoration effort with an emphasis on habitat and at-risk species. A.T. provided some "Before" and "After" pictures of their restoration.
|
THREE WEEKS AWAY:
NACD VIRTUAL ADVOCACY WEEK
|
NACD’s Virtual Advocacy Week is only three weeks away, and NACD's Government Affairs team has finalized this year's issue papers, which can be found on NACD’s Advocacy Week webpage.
NACD’s Government Affairs team will be hosting a Zoom briefing at 2:00 p.m. Eastern on March 16 for members and partners participating in the Virtual Advocacy Week. This briefing will be a substitute for the breakfast briefing we normally host in Washington, D.C., where we will review the issue papers and answer any questions that people who are participating in the following week’s meetings may have.
As your state or territory works to schedule meetings, be sure to visit our “Tips and Tricks” document on NACD’s Advocacy Week webpage. Please contact NACD Director of Government Affairs Coleman Garrison at coleman-garrison@nacdnet.org if you have any questions about NACD’s Virtual Advocacy Week, the Zoom briefing or if you or need additional information.
|
SAVE THE DATE:
UPCOMING EVENTS
|
The summit is a two-day event with a variety of educational sessions from expert presenters such as successful cover croppers, researchers and agronomists. NACD Soil Health Champions will be leading two sessions:
Jimmy Emmons, Leedey, Okla.
"The Economics of Utilizing Cover Crops in a Dryland Environment"
Bill Buessing, Axtell, Kan.
"Maximize Livestock Feed Resources with Cover Crops: Tips from a Cover Crop Addict"
Two options to register include:
Option 1: Free access to 12 presentations on-demand for two days only, March 17 - 18.
Option 2: $49 VIP Upgrade extends access for a 12-month period, plus bonus content included.
|
Join some of the world's most knowledgeable experts in Regenerative Agriculture in this free, virtual four-day event from March 15-18, 2021. If you're a farmer or someone with a passion for the planet, then this event is for you! The summit covers a diverse range of topics like holistic grazing, agroforestry, soil biology, market gardening, mycology, carbon sequestration, human health, ecology and much more.
Speakers include Soil Scientist Ray Archuleta and Regenerative Rancher Gabe Brown.
|
The National No-Tillage Conference has lined up nearly 40 top-notch no-tillers, agronomists, researchers and other no-till experts to deliver innovative ideas that can help you get the most out of your no-till farming system. This 30th annual conference offers a mix of thought-provoking General Sessions, expert-led No-Till Classrooms and collaborative No-Till Roundtables. Plus, valuable pesticide recertification and Certified Crop Advisor credits are available to qualifying attendees.
Registration packages vary and discounts are available for various stages of early registration and additional registrants.
|
|
National Conservation Planning Partnership Producer Survey |
The National Conservation Planning Partnership (NCPP) is conducting a national survey to obtain feedback on additional ways to strengthen the value of a conservation plan and to improve the delivery of conservation planning assistance to farmers, ranchers and forest landowners.
This producer survey was developed to expand on the feedback that was given in previous employee and cooperator listening sessions held in 2018 and 2019. As a result of those sessions, hundreds of suggestions were received and recorded and have been moved forward to improve the conservation planning experience for our valued customers.
The survey closes Monday, March 15.
|
Soil Health Institute to Collaborate with Truterra |
The Soil Health Institute (SHI) is collaborating with Truterra as the scientific partner for soil metrics and sampling design for TruCarbon, the first farmer-owned carbon program in the U.S.
TruCarbon is a transformational new carbon program that will help farmers generate and sell carbon credits to private sector buyers. For the initial launch, SHI will develop the soil sampling design and methodologies for qualifying farmers to be compensated for the carbon they have sequestered retroactively, over the last five years, by adopting soil health practices in prior growing seasons.
Microsoft is the first secured buyer that will purchase the vintage carbon credits to help achieve its ambitious commitment to be carbon negative by 2030.
The Soil Health Institute will provide technical assistance to support the soil sampling strategy and design, field and laboratory methodologies, data analysis and quantification of the carbon sequestered in soils by participating farmers.
Interested farmers can find out more about the program and enroll here.
|
Slakes: Soil Aggregate Stability App |
Soil aggregate stability is an important soil physical property that influences a wide range of biological and chemical processes in natural and agricultural environments. The stability of aggregates in water is an essential property for maintaining soil productivity by helping in minimizing soil erosion, environmental pollution and further degradation.
Slakes is a smart phone application that is capable of measuring the change in area of soil aggregates immersed in a Petri dish full of water over time, fitting a model and returning coefficients that can be finally used as a soil aggregate stability indicator.
To download this app, visit the app store for your specific device (e.g. Google Play, the App Store for Apple, etc.).
|
NRCS Conservation Webinar Portal |
The Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) Training Library has a Conservation Webinar Portal that offers a free, multi-disciplinary training and extension webinar platform.
Through the website search option, you can find both live and on-demand webinars for your area of interest. Some of the upcoming live webinars include:
"Capitalizing on Soil Health Benefits: A California Farmer's Perspective"
"Rethinking the Nutrient Management Paradigm for Soil Health"
"Agronomic and Economic Considerations for the Business Case of Adopting Soil Health Management Systems"
|
2021 NRCS Soil Planner Available Now |
The 2021 Soil Planner is now available for order or free download. This planner is in a traditional style (8 1/2" x 11") and features Soils in the Geologic Record. Different ages of "buried" soils are illustrated, and information is provided on climates, ecosystems and fossils of the prehistoric past. The planner is highly educational and includes pictures that capture the essence of the Earth's story. The pages provide space for notes and list scheduled meeting dates that have been confirmed for 2021.
|
Healthy Soils Policy
and Legislation
|
At Healthysoilspolicy.org, you can track the status of Healthy Soils Legislation across the U.S. The interactive map is designed to highlight the various stages of policy, supporting the growth of healthy soil and related policies by sharing frameworks and lessons learned. This information is crowdsourced and relies on input from those engaged at the state level. If you have an update on your state's efforts, please connect with your state's contact via the website.
Dr. Steven Keleti has been spearheading this effort and connecting conservation districts with those coordinating healthy soils legislation in states across the country. Keleti was a guest speaker at the NACD Annual Meeting's Soil Health Symposium on February 10, where he spoke on this topic. For more information on this effort or to connect with Dr. Keleti, please email him at skeleti@comcast.net.
|
The email list for this quarterly bulletin has recently been updated. If you missed any previous issues, be sure to visit the NACD Soil Health Champions Network webpage to view them in our archives. Each issue shares resources, events, stories and much more.
Additionally, if you have articles, events, stories or pictures to submit for the bulletin or the group Facebook page, please contact Beth Mason.
|
Promote Your
Next Soil Health Event
|
Do you have any upcoming soil health events? Are you looking for an upcoming soil health event to attend?
Both NACD and the Soil Health Institute have opened their events calendars for folks to post various soil health events whether they are local, state, national or even international.
|
|
