Don’t think dirt is beautiful? You don’t know Deb Gangwish. She has a thing for soil and openly espoused her infatuation recently in an interview on National Public Radio (NPR). And Del Ficke, another Nebraska farmer, understands her crush completely.
Gangwish, who serves on the National Corn Growers Association Freedom to Operate Action Team, is part of a growing legion of farmers at the forefront of a swelling soil health movement. And this movement is turning the historic soil management “evolution” into more of a “revolution” because of the momentum and accelerated change.
“For years, talk of "healthy soil" was mostly limited to organic farmers and others on the fringes of mainstream American agriculture. No more. Articles about soil health fill major farm publications. It's the subject of several recent books. Big food companies are on board, and some of them are discussing a new eco-label for food, alongside "organic" and "fair trade," that would reward farmers for adopting practices that build healthy soil — what many are calling "regenerative agriculture." Dan Charles - NPR
Farmers have been discussing, adopting and tweaking agronomic practices that are better for the soil for decades but more in the context of saving soil from wind and water erosion rather than how to keep soil “healthy.” Keeping soil in the field became a growing priority in the 1990s which spawned many ways to farm under the heading of conservation tillage and no-till.
But today, the quest for healthy soil is saving the soil and a whole lot more. Farmers are developing techniques that capture carbon, cut the need for adding as much fertilizer, and literally build new, more productive soil.
Efforts are being aided by the Soil Health Partnership and NCGA. SHP is leading and facilitating efforts to identify, test and measure management practices to improve soil health to assist in assessing the economic and environmental benefits to farmers’ operations.
COVID-19 Resources
NCGA is taking a series of actions to do our part to help contain the spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19) and the economic fallout it is creating for corn farmers and our customers. Short term, this means instituting policies to protect the health and safety of our stakeholders and the broader communities we serve. Long term, we’re focused on creating solutions to help corn farmers and our customers recover from the financial impacts of this crisis.
CommonGround
CommonGround is a group of farmers connecting with consumers through conversations about science and research and personal stories about food and misinformation surrounding farming. Supported by the NCGA and state corn organizations.
SHP
The Soil Health Partnership (SHP) is a farmer-led initiative that fosters transformation in agriculture through improved soil health. Administered by NCGA the partnership has more than 220 working farms enrolled in 16 states. SHP’s mission is to utilize science and data to partner with farmers who are adopting conservation agricultural practices that improve the economic and environmental sustainability of the farm.