With the growing research into the importance of healthy soil, the Soil Health Institute has outlined a strategy to improve the health of soil.
Scientific research all points to one fact: soil health is important. In an effort to improve the health of our nation’s soil, the Soil Health Institute (SHI) has released a strategy for affecting that change. Created the Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation and the Farm Foundation, “to safeguard and enhance the vitality and productivity of soil through scientific research and advancement,” the SHI maintains the benefits of healthy soil are numerous, according to a Southeast FarmPress article. See the details of the strategy below.
Roadmap for Healthy Soil
The SHI maintains that healthy soils have a host of benefits, including
- Increasing crop health, yield, and profits
- Reducing nutrient loss to waterways
- Reducing greenhouse gas emissions
- Increasing carbon sequestration
- Increasing biodiversity
Dr. Wayne Honeycutt, CEO of the SHI, said in the article, “It is important that we assess the impacts of adoption on productivity and profitability because that supports the business case. We also need to quantify effects on the environment because this supports well-informed policies and provides the evidence needed for educating consumers about the environmental benefits of soil health systems. Such information can help create more market demand for food and fiber grown using soil health practices so that the entire system becomes self-sustaining and does not depend on government assistance.”
The road map includes:
- Identify what producers need to make decisions to utilize healthy soil practices, such as how it will help their ag business, how to measure the health of soil, and locally relevant information based on sound science.
- Assess the impact of adopted systems on productivity.
- Educating consumers on the benefits of soil systems.
See the video here.
Griffin Fertilizer is committed to helping both growers and ranchers make sound agronomic and economic decisions in order to maximize the health of their grove and pasture. As a full-service custom dry & liquid fertilizer blender and crop protection product distributor, we will continue our mission to further advance Florida agriculture. For questions or concerns about your farm or pasture, contact us and one of our team will be in touch.