RangeLands’ Soils Health
What contributes to “Soils Health” on a landscape? Which management practices improve water conservation? What techniques demonstrate a reduction in annual costs spent on treatments to control agricultural pests?
These and other strategies were discussed as NCRLT trained with the National Agricultural Land Network (NALN) team in mid-April. In coordination with American Farmland Trust, NALN hosted a highly engaging and informative, virtual Soil Health Stewards training titled, “Promoting Health on Protected Agricultural Lands.” The 2024 ALN training coalesced private, public, and non-profit land stewards from across the U.S.A. to discuss how to best promote soil health on a variety of protected agricultural land types: rangeland, timber, row crop and orchards.
Top industry professionals shared expertise on a variety of topics over the four-day training: landowner engagement; soil health economics; carbon market opportunities; using easements and conservation plans to encourage soil health; financial assistance programs available, etc. Attendees participated in peer breakout sessions throughout the training to discuss soil health topics in smaller groups to foster more personal and professional connections between trainees.
Three staff from NCRLT, Stewardship Director - Hannah Espinosa, Conservation Director – Lucas RossMerz, and GIS Specialist - Daniel Deem, attended the training, and are collaboratively updating NCRLT’s 2023 Soil Health Action Plan. The 2024 Soil Health Action Plan will continue to operationalize work on agricultural properties, and outline development of exciting educational gatherings for the public and regional landowners to learn best-pratices together. With a plethora of educational and fiscal resources available for landowners seeking to improve their soil health on productive agricultural lands, our team is energized to share the good news.
To hear about upcoming community events, please sign up for our newsletter or donate today in support of NCRLT’s soil health work in Northern California. Hope to see you at our events in 2024!
-Lucas RossMerz, NCRLT Conservation Director
