Partner Spotlight: Soil Health Institute
The Soil Health Institute is leading a collaborative, comprehensive, and multi-stakeholder coalition of public and private sector partners to systematically tackle the financial, social, technical, and educational barriers that farmers and ranchers face when deciding whether to adopt soil health/regenerative agriculture systems. That approach is outlined in this 5-minute video and summarized in this figure.
In Research and Development, the Soil Health Institute sees opportunities to work with FFAR to understand and manage the microbiome, build decision support tools for Carbon sequestration and drought resilience, optimize nutrient use efficiency, understand soil health – human health connections, and more.
In 2021, the Soil Health Institute will
- Recommend a standardized set of the most effective soil health measurements and methods based on a 3-year $6.5M continental study
- Publish economic fact sheets showing increased profitability based on 125 farmer interviews in 20 U.S. states
- Demonstrate how soil health targets can be established for the entire U.S. to set realistic goals and drive innovation in agriculture
Our team is based throughout North America and holds PhDs in soil science, agronomy, microbiology, and agricultural economics, and an MS in agribusiness management.
The Soil Health Institute looks forward to continuing our work with FFAR to advance key research in soil health.
Sheldon R. Jones, Chief Operating Officer at Soil Health Institute
Sheldon R. Jones, Chief Operating Officer, brings over 35 years of experience to the Soil Health Institute, including a balance of private sector (16 years), non-profit (8 years) and public service experience (12 years). He earned his Bachelor and Master degrees in Agribusiness Management at Arizona State University.