Soil Health
Theory of Change
From the Website: Soil supports 95% of all global food production. By 2050 the soils will have to feed an estimated 9.8 Billion people. That's 2 Billion more than our current world population. Food, Fiber, Fuel. Soils are vital. Soil is one of our most cost effective reservoirs for sequestering carbon. The Soil Health Institute.
Featured Publication
ReThink Soil Executive Summary
From the Publication: Improving soil health on U.S. agricultural land holds the potential for achieving meaningful conservation and economic benefits, as well as mitigating the growing threat of climate change. Healthy soil is the cornerstone of life on earth, facilitating ecosystem biodiversity, ample food production, effective water filtration and storage, and carbon sequestration. Healthy soil more efficiently stores and recycles carbon, water, and nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorous. Download the executive report from The Nature Conservancy.
Additional Publications
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From the Publication: is report represents a suite of work to better understand non-operating landowners and the barriers they and their farmers face in aligning management objectives, as well as potential opportunities to improve soil health outcomes on rented farmland. Download the publication from The Nature Conservancy.
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From the Report: Improving soil health can help farmers build drought resilience, increase nutrient availability, suppress diseases, reduce erosion, and reduce nutrient losses. Many soil health management systems (i.e., a suite of soil health practices) also benefit the environment by storing soil carbon, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and improving water quality. However, investing in soil health management systems is also a business decision. Download the report from the Soil Health Institute.
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From the Report: By increasing soil organic carbon, farmers build soil health in ways that increase resilience, boost their bottom lines, and benefit their communities. Download the report from the Land Stewardship Project.
Continuous Living Cover 101
This course provides CLC-focused resources for implementing CLC strategies, potential sources of cost-share and grant funding, and information on a range of other topics, such as land access and equity in farming, that more broadly support CLC adoption. The course is provided by the Regenerative Ag Idea Network. The free course was updated March 2024.
The Economics of Soil Health Systems in Illinois
The Soil Health Institute and Cargill conducted this project to provide farmers with the economic information they need when deciding whether to adopt soil health practices and systems. The Soil Health Institute.