Background

The Nebraska Soil Health Coalition (NE SHC) first met in May 2023 after background work began in 2022. Through monthly meetings, an independent, non-profit organization was chartered and the bylaws were filed in Nebraska. The NE SHC is a 501C3, IRS approved non-profit organization.

The eighteen months of work (2019-2020) by the NE Healthy Soils Task Force resulted from Legislative Bill 243 that was passed by the Unicameral in 2019. The Task Force commenced on an extensive journey to look at the national landscape of the best models to foster change in the soil health community.

The TF was comprised of seventeen members representing producers and a wide range of soil experts and interest groups (p. 2 of the report). The members were selected by Gov. Ricketts. Twenty-five listening sessions involving thirty-one groups representing the range of agricultural stakeholders were held.

Keith Berns, Chaired the TF and Mike McDonald served as the Co-Chair. Ray Ward as well as other TF members are providing assistance to the NE SHC. After submitting the report in December 2020, they hoped that private and public groups would take the next steps; this did not happen. In 2022, conversations were held in smaller groups resulting in the formal steps in 2023 by the Founding Members.

Conclusions

The Task Force report concluded that healthier soils:

  • improved yield stability through enhanced soil management practices

  • produced greater financial returns over time

  • reduced the need for chemical inputs

  • increased water infiltration rates and water storage capacity making soil more resilient to drought, flooding, and erosion

  • improved water quality and quantity

  • strengthened the supply chain and ties with end markets among many other positive impacts

In a greater sense, the SHC is needed because the public increasingly needs and deserves to know how food is grown relative to human health and the long-term resiliency of our natural resources. Healthy soil management practices are beneficial to both rural and urban contingencies and the health of soils, plants, animals, and humans is one. While producers work at being good stewards of the land, they (and their lenders) need economic stability. However, soil health and water quality have been degraded by many production practices which are primarily based upon traditional practices. Producers must be at the center of change and we know that it is possible in NE. The time is right and there is no organization such as the SHC to foster and assist this collaborative transition.

The Task Force also concluded that there are two significant barriers to adopting healthy soil management practices.

  1. Uncertainty of a positive economic return on investment (ROI) in healthy soil management practices

  2. Lack of peer-to-peer information, data, and discussion from producers close to and similar to their own operations.

For example, irrigated lands from Fremont and Columbus, to Hastings and Holdrege, to the Sandhills, have greatly different soil types. Timing and recommendations for one ecosystem often are not entirely relevant to another NE region.