INTRODUCING THE

SOIL HEALTH INSTITUTE

C. Wayne Honeycutt, Ph.D.

President and CEO

EDUCATION

Reawaken the public to

the importance of soil

health.

RESEARCH

Convene the

research community

to advance soil

health.

MEASUREMENT

Incorporate soil health

measures into standardized

soil testing that is readily

available, affordable, and

commercially viable.

$ECONOMICS

Quantify the effects of

soil health on

economic risks and

returns.

Initiated in 2013, Farm

Foundation, NFP and the

Noble Foundation initiated

the Soil Renaissance to

advance soil health and

make soil health the

cornerstone of land use

management decisions.

2

3

Mission

Safeguard and enhance

the vitality and productivity of soil

through scientific research

and advancement

Roles of the Institute

• Build research/implementation strategies

& corresponding networks/synergies

• Obtain funding to address gaps

• Administer accountable, transparent, and

technically proficient grants program

• Ensure impact of investments

• Incorporate research results into

educational materials

• Enhance partnerships for increasing tech

transfer and adoption

FOUNDANT GLM

SHI Manages:

- RFP

- Application Process

- Review/Evaluation

Process

- Decision Coding

- Post-Grant Reports

Process

- Fund Disbursement

Automated emails help

keep grantees on track

with deadlines.

Grant Process

Establishing

Strategic Direction

Action Plan

Action Plan Goals & Priorities

RESEARCHA. Enhance Productivity and Resilience Through Soil Health

1. Optimize AWHC in Important Ag. Soils

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

0 2 4 6 8

WA

TE

R (

% b

y V

olu

me

)

ORGANIC CARBON (% by Weight)Adapted from Hudson (1994)

PWP

SAND

Available Water Holding Capacity

FC

Soil Organic C (Mg/ha)

State Years Conventional

Tillage

No Tillage

IA 15 60.3 71.1

IL 6 45.4 51.3

IN 11 60.0 73.0

KY 5 45.9 52.8

Operationalizing Knowledge

Action Plan Goals & Priorities

RESEARCHA. Enhance Productivity and Resilience Through Soil Health

1. Optimize AWHC in Important Ag. Soils

2. Optimize Water Infiltration in Important Ag. Soils

Tillage & Cover Crop Impacts

On Water Infiltration Rate

Location Years Tillage & Crop Impact on Infiltration

Rate

Reference

KS 15 NT Winter

Wheat-Sorghum

182% Increase with

Cover Crop

Blanco-Canqui et al.

(2011)

MD 11 NT Corn 164-462% Increase with

Cover Crop (different

sites & years)

Steele et al. (2012)

KS 11 NT Wheat-

Sorghum-Fallow

132-194% Increase with

No-Till

Stone and Schlegel (2010)

Malawi 3 NT Corn 165% Increase in No-Till TerAvest et al. (2015)

Infiltration – Brookings County, SD

Action Plan Goals & Priorities

RESEARCHA. Enhance Productivity and Resilience Through Soil Health

1. Optimize AWHC in Important Ag. Soils

2. Optimize Water Infiltration in Important Ag. Soils

3. Optimize Suppression of Soil-borne Diseases

4. Optimize Plant Nutrient Availability in Important Ag. Soils

Action Plan Goals & Priorities

RESEARCHA. Enhance Productivity and Resilience Through Soil Health

1. Optimize AWHC in Important Ag. Soils

2. Optimize Water Infiltration in Important Ag. Soils

3. Optimize Suppression of Soil-borne Diseases

4. Optimize Plant Nutrient Availability in Important Ag. Soils

B. Quantify & Enhance Environmental & Human Health

Benefits that Result from Improved Soil Health

1. Improve Water Quality by Increasing Nutrient Use

Efficiency & Reducing Nutrient Losses

2. Increase C Sequestration & Reduce GHG Emissions

3. Establish & Expand Knowledge on Relationships

between Soil Health and Human Health

Action Plan Goals & Priorities

MEASUREMENTS, STANDARDS &

ASSESSMENTA. Determine Appropriate Measurements for a NSHA

1. Specify Tier 1 Measurements

2. Evaluate Tier 2 Measurements

3. Evaluate Existing Methods & Frameworks for Soil Health

Assessment & Reporting

B. Design & Conduct Pilot Studies to Evaluate Large Scale

Assessments of Soil Health

C. Conduct Full National Soil Health Assessment

Measurements & Standards

Current Activities:

Straw Papers Developed:

• Identifying Key Processes and Associated Indicators

• Determining Standardized Methods for Measuring those Indicators

• Evaluating Soil Health Indicator Effectiveness

– Proxy for key functions

– Management sensitive

– Actionable by producers

• Production Readiness

– Sampling

– Analysis

– Specialized Equipment

– Interpretation

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Indicator Tiers

• Tier 1: Effective indicator

– Defined regionally and by soil groupings across

nation

– Thresholds exist to at least indicate "Poor",

"Adequate", "Good" that are outcome based (i.e.,

yield, environmental, etc.)

– Management can be suggested to improve soil

functioning

– Examples: Standard soil test, SOC, Agg. Stability

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Indicator Tiers

• Tier 2: Effective indicator

– Trends/directionality are known, potential ranges

are known in some regions but not nationally

– Thresholds in various regions are either unknown

or not outcome-based

– Management can be suggested to improve soil

functioning

– Examples: Active C, Bioavailable N, AWHC,

PLFA, Cornell, Haney, SMAF

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Indicator Tiers

• Tier 3: Not yet effective indicator

- Indicator may be useful if its relationship to soil

health-related processes can be clarified

- Before it can be widely used, methods

development must improve laboratory

implementation, interpretation, regional

application, and linkage to management impacts

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Action Plan Goals & Priorities

ECONOMICSA. Quantify Economic Risk of SHMS

1. Quantify & Communicate SHMS Impacts on Economic

Risk in Ag. Production

B. Evaluate Potential Profitability of SHMS

1. Develop & Distribute Partial Budgets to Producers

Relevant to their Geographies and Systems

C. Establish Approaches for Monetization of Soil Health

1. Estimate Economic Value of Soil Health from Producer

and Public Perspectives

Action Plan Goals & Priorities

COMMUNICATIONS & EDUCATIONA. Establish & Strengthen SHI’s Online Presence

1. Develop Materials & Processes for Active Outreach

Online

B. Facilitate Collaboration Among Committees & Partners

C. Increase Education of Partners & Audiences Regarding

Soil Health Impacts

1. Establish Partnerships with Key National & International

Organizations

2. Educate Public About Benefits of Soil Health

3. Engage Media and Develop Communications Material

Action Plan Goals & Priorities

WELL – INFORMED POLICYA. Make Soil Health the Cornerstone of Natural Resources

Management Policies Throughout the Nation

1. Assess Current Policies for Positive & Negative

Influences on Soil Health

Operational Structure

President/CEO

Chief Scientific Officer

ResearchMeasure-ments &

Standards

Communica-tions & Educ.

Economics Policy DevelopmentChief

Operating Officer

Admin

Experts

• Location: RTP

• Additional paid

staff dependent

on funding

Partnerships

and Funding

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The Coordinating Coalition for Soil Health:

Organizations allied for a future when soil health is the foundation for managing our natural resources

CommunicationsEnhanced website

Jan 5 – 24

Statistics

Unique

Users

Sessions Page

Views

Website 1481 1927 5288

0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400 450 500

Number of total links to site

Websites linking tosoilhealthinstitute.org

LINKS TO WEBSITE

Communications

Three Press Releases:

265,925,514 impressions and 30,935 hits

Quarterly

Newsletter(Stakeholders)

Soil Health Documentary and Video Clips

https://vimeo.com/193582665/33b90e1e1e

https://vimeo.com/193485919/736a369436

https://vimeo.com/192579438/b3aad4e67b

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Communications

High-level System Architecture

Noble Foundation Network

Storage

Document Management

Application

Analysis

Tools

Project

Management

Application

Cloud Data

Management &

Collaboration

Long-term Data

Repository

Soil Health

Institute

Web Portal

Thank You!

Soilhealthinstitute.org

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