Soil health tops summit agenda in St. Louis

Seven “powerhouse” sponsors recently coordinated a St. Louis agricultural seminar focusing on techniques to strive for progressive and climate-smart agricultural practices throughout the farming industry.
                             
Hosted jointly by the ILSI Research Foundation, Monsanto Company, Soil Health Partnership (SHP), Washington University in St. Louis, Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research, Howard G. Buffett Foundation and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), the Oct. 24–25 event focused on developing research targets for agricultural goals.
 
SHP Director Nick Goeser and NCGA CEO Chris Novak both presented at the event, titled “C-Quest: Charting a Course for Climate Research in Agriculture.”
 
The gathering identified support for the USDA’s “building blocks” approach to creating climate-oriented agriculture; strove to assimilate current field research networks in the Midwest, such as SHP, for shared knowledge; and addressed plans for research aiming for “carbon-neutral” practices in the U.S. with particular attention to soil carbon procedures.
 
The Soil Health Partnership is a farmer-led program of the National Corn Growers Association (NCGA), while the Washington, D.C.-based ILSI Research Foundation is a nonprofit, public charitable organization with a mission to improve environmental sustainability and human health by advancing science to address real world problems.
                                                                                                                                                                       
SHP performs field-scale testing and measuring of management practices aimed at improving soil health. It advocates for growing cover crops for conservation and other practices to safeguard against nutrient loss.