The Soil Health Institute (SHI) today released an update to its state level Soil Health Policy Resources Catalog of legislative, agency, and academic policies and programs to advance soil health. The updated catalog, housed on the SHI website, also includes information on non-profit and for-profit entities.
SHI published the original catalog in July 2018 to help facilitate cross-pollination, learning and coordination across dispersed policies and programs. Since that time, the number of soil health programs and policies has significantly increased. For example, the number of legislative bills to advance soil health increased from 9 in 2018 to 53 by the end of 2019. The updated catalog now includes: 32 academic institutions, 85 state agencies, 53 state legislative bills, 87 non-profit entities, and 23 for-profit organizations.
“It is exciting to see such an increase in the number of initiatives to enhance the vitality and productivity of soils, particularly at the state level,” said Dr. Wayne Honeycutt, SHI President and CEO. “Soil health is the foundation for regenerative and sustainable agriculture, and such efforts at state and local levels help ensure local impact by considering locally relevant soils, climates, and production systems. Our goal in developing this catalog of policies and programs is to provide a resource where anyone wanting to learn what others have done can do so without having to reinvent the wheel for themselves.”
A case in point is the “Healthy Soils Task Force” established under Nebraska legislative bill 243. “As Chair of the Task Force, it is my job to help our members research and review effective soil health programs being done in other states and through other organizations so that we can build upon their success,” said Keith Berns, Chair of the Task Force. “This is a daunting task, but the Soil Health Institute’s catalog on soil health resources will be an invaluable tool in helping us reach our goals. It is a huge timesaver for the people on our Task Force.”
Recognizing that keeping such a catalog updated is a significant challenge, SHI invites additions that can be nominated on a form at the end of the catalog.
To view the catalog, visit http://soilhealthinstitute.org/resources.