Keith Byerly has joined the Soil Health Partnership as the Kansas and Nebraska Field Manager. Byerly brings a broad set of experiences and expertise to this role.
“I am really impressed with Byerly’s experience of communicating his agronomic knowledge to the growers in his region across various platforms,” said SHP Field Team Director, Jack Cornell. “SHP is dedicated to continually helping farmers make more informed decisions to become more productive in their operations, and Byerly is going to help us provide Kansas and Nebraska farmers with local support.”
Byerly graduated with a degree in agronomy from the University of Nebraska Lincoln in 2001 and has been a Certified Crop Advisor since 2002. Byerly spent the last eighteen years working for a cooperative that served multiple states out of Nebraska. For fifteen years, he has been a precision ag manager focusing on data services, prescriptions and hardware.
Raised on the edge of the Nebraska Sandhills, Byerly holds a special appreciation for soil, groundwater, and irrigation management. He now resides with his wife and their two children on an acreage near his wife’s hometown of Bloomfield, Nebraska.
“After almost 20 years working in agriculture on the Western Plains, it has deepened my appreciation for managing our resources, like soil and water, for optimum efficiency,” shared Byerly. “I joined SHP because I saw a great opportunity to be part of a team that was working to improve our use and regeneration of the soil that we all rely on. I am looking forward to being part of the team that makes farming possible and productive for future generations.”
In this role, Byerly will work closely with existing SHP farmers as well as establishing new sites. The SHP looks to expand its footprint in Nebraska by working more closely with corn farmers. Kansas is one of the first states SHP partnered with on wheat sites. The SHP will continue to build on the network for both corn and wheat in the coming years.
Byerly augments a strong Field Team that is focused on supporting the farmers on a host of areas including identifying and sharing the economic and environmental benefits of varied soil management strategies and provide a set of regionally specific, data‑driven recommendations that farmers can use to improve the productivity and sustainability of their farms.
“We are excited to have Byerly on board. He will play a critical role in helping us better understand the impact of various practices on the diverse soils in Kansas and Nebraska,” states SHP Executive Director, Shefali Mehta. “He will also help us to build on strong partnerships with many organizations that continue to be focused on soil health in the region. We are looking forward to Byerly bringing his experience and knowledge as we continue to build SHP.”
