Soil Health: Challenges and Opportunities

Abstract

In recent years, a broad stakeholder base within the agricultural sector and among the public has become aware of the critical importance of healthy soils, spurred by public awareness campaigns and workshops. As we continue to grapple with a changing climate and more extreme weather events, regenerating the health and proper functioning of our nation’s, and indeed world’s, soil resource will markedly improve the capacity of soil to maintain or increase yield and yield stability, lower input costs, and contribute to other ecosystem services. This is true not only for croplands but also for pastures and native rangelands, orchards, and forests. To aid in moving forward initiatives to help farmers and ranchers improve the soil resource base, the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) has created a new Soil Health Division (SHD). Personnel distributed across the country will facilitate soil health technical training and education for stakeholders, work with partners to standardize soil health assessments, promote soil health management systems as part of the conservation planning process, and facilitate implementation and long-term adoption of soil health management systems on our nation’s agricultural lands. The new division will leverage skills, resources, technology, and partnerships to achieve these goals.