Soil Health Partnership adds research sites in eight Midwestern states

SHP is a farmer-led initiative of the National Corn Growers Association.
SHP is a farmer-led initiative of the National Corn Growers Association. | File photo

The Soil Health Partnership (SHP) announced new research sites in eight Midwestern states, with the goal of quantifying the monetary benefits of cover crops, conservation tillage and nutrient-management techniques.

“It’s exciting that so many farmers want to test and share the impact soil health can have on the environment and farm economics with their peers,” SHP Director Nick Goeser said. “As a data-driven program, the success of our research depends upon these test sites, and we are indebted to them for their participation and enthusiasm.”

SHP is a farmer-led initiative of the National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) in which farmers voluntarily enroll for a minimum of five years. The program receives funding from Monsanto and the Walton Family Foundation, with technical support offered by The Nature Conservancy and the Environmental Defense Fund.

Farmers benefit from the program because field managers are able to tell farmers the best practices from the data on their own farm’s test plots, which the farmers can then implement on the rest of their farm.

SHP and NCGA hope to enroll 100 farms in the program.