The Soil Health Partnership marks five years this year. The partnership was founded by a diverse group of organizations with a shared vision of developing a farmer-led research network to measure the impacts of implementing soil health practices on working farms. The Nature Conservancy, Bayer, the Environmental Defense Fund, alongside the National Corn Growers Association came together to see this vision through. This program was based upon work supported by the National Resources Conservation Service.

“We are proud of the collaboration led to SHP’s establishment. That collaboration has continued to grow and evolve with many partners, bringing dynamic perspectives to the table,” said SHP Executive Director Dr. Shefali Mehta.

“Engaging with pragmatic, goal-focused groups like the Environmental Defense Fund and The Nature Conservancy, and bringing in agronomic expertise from Bayer, SHP was founded amongst a well-rounded, diverse group of organizations. We have accomplished a lot in five years thanks in large part to the support from our founding members and partner farmers,” said NCGA Vice President, Production and Sustainability, Nathan Fields.

The SHP network now spans across 16 states and includes more than 100 partner organizations at the federal, state and county levels. SHP has grown from 17 active farms in 2014 to 220 active farms in 2019 and represents over 7,000 acres.

SHP has a team of eight field managers that work alongside farmers in their region to design and implement experiments in fields across North America.

“It is encouraging to see the vast number of farmers interested in investing in their land that they are proactively inviting SHP into their operations. We continue seeking new ways to diversify our offerings to enable farmers from a broad range of geographies and operations can be part of our program,” stated SHP Lead Scientist, Maria Bowman.

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