Soil Health: Opportunities and Challenges

Healthy soils support high functioning systems that provide food, fiber, and biofuels for our growing population. The intent of this presentation is to introduce the newly formed Soil Health Division within the Natural Resources Conservation Service- who we are and what our goals are. Additionally, this presentation will highlight challenges facing crop growth and the opportunities that exist to restore soil through a suite of soil health management principles. Emphasis will be given to the role of soil organic matter in soil health restoration and practices that maintain and enhance this valuable soil property.