The State of Soil Health is an initiative to measure soil health and soil carbon on farms across the state of Vermont. This project is coordinated by UVM Extension and relied upon in-kind donations, data sharing and field support from partnering organizations and farmers.
The project has five primary objectives:
- Establish a baseline of soil health indicators, carbon stocks, and associated ecosystem services in Vermont’s agricultural landscapes
- Create soil health soil sampling standards across management types
- Provide farmers with contextualized information about soil health on their participating fields
- Support collaboration among the many organizations that work with farmers towards shared goals around soil health
- Build skills and capacity for measuring soil health and soil carbon stocks
Collaborating organizations to the project include:
- Vermont Association of Conservation Districts
- White River Natural Resource Conservation District
- Poultney Mettowee Natural Resource Conservation District
- Vermont Environmental Stewardship Program
- Dartmouth College
- Biological Capital
- The Nature Conservancy Vermont
- University of Vermont Extension
- University of Vermont Department of Plant & Soil Science
- Gund Institute for Environment at UVM
Direct funding for the State of Soil Health project has been provided by the Nature Conservancy of Vermont, and a gift from Ben & Jerry’s.
What’s the State of Soil Health in Vermont? Reports from the project will be shared here:
- Sampling methods: “State of Soil Health Sampling Protocols (PDF)”
- Soil carbon on in Vermont farm fields: “Soil carbon storage and sequestration in Vermont agriculture (PDF)”
- “Summary Statistics from the 2021 season” – Expected in May 2022