Projects funded by the Soil Health Initiative
The goal of the Soil Health Initiative RFP was to advance and finalize extension outputs specifically related to soil health. These outputs should share results from soil health related research and/or educate stakeholders on soil health, define soil health, and its benefits to agriculture, the environment and/or humans. Stakeholders can include commercial producers, agricultural professionals (e.g. Extension, Conservation District, NRCS), allied industry (crop consultants, producer organizations), or other audiences that are justified.
The projects listed below were funded in November 2019.
Adopting cover crops for soil health in the Pacific Northwest
Nathan Stacey and Douglas Collins
This project will finalize a Extension publication for western Washington diversified farms focused on recommendations for improving soil health. The publication will focus on cover crop management (i.e., varieties, development, termination strategies, and biomass) and will be based on four year’s data collection from five small farms and two WSU research stations, all located in western Washington.
Digging Deeper, Co-Innovating Soil Health Solutions in Eastern Washington
Maren Friesen, Carol McFarland and Haiying Tao
This project will develop and progress working groups that facilitate soil health co-innovation and identify novel research problems, and initiate a webinar series to build community, foster research and support education. Project investigators will convene a webinar series and live events focused on disseminating soil health related information.
Soil health field assessment for the Hispanic tree fruit community
Bernardita Sallato-Carmona and Melba Salazar-Gutierrez
This project will deliver a training on soil health targeted towards Hispanic tree fruit farmers. The training will discuss principles of soil health relevant to tree fruit production and demonstrate soil health field assessments to encourage adequate soil diagnosis and monitoring.