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)”
• The State of Soil Health in Vermont: “Summary Statistics from Vermont Agriculture in 2021”
Our Collaborators