- Over 60 scholars representing 30 leading U.S. universities have shown their solidarity for the proposed Agriculture Data Act of the next Farm Bill in a letter sent to Senate and House Agriculture Committee leaders. The Ag Data Act would establish the framework for a conservation and farm productivity national data warehouse; the first of its kind in the United States, that would unlock solutions to conserve natural resources and improve farmer success while protecting data privacy.
- Eighteen national organizations representing agriculture and science communities recently joined together in signing a statement in support of the International Statement on Agricultural Applications of Precision Biotechnology (“the International Statement”) – a global commitment to the fair, science-based treatment of agricultural innovation like gene editing, around the world.
- The Soil Health Partnership welcomes a new field manager to the growing staff, along with a program coordinator to support farmers in the soil health effort. Madelyn Rabenhorst joins the SHP team to cover the state of South Dakota as a field manager, and Stacey Stiens is already making an impact in her role as Program Coordinator.
- The U.S. Agency for International Development, Land O’Lakes International Development, and the Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research announced the six winners of the Feed the Future Fall Armyworm Tech Prize at the AfricaCom conference in South Africa.
- The CHS Foundation, funded by charitable gifts from CHS Inc., announced a $1.5 million grant to support the South Dakota State University precision agriculture program and construction of the new Raven Precision Agriculture Center on campus.
- A locally-led, multi-stakeholder program designed to improve the sustainability of winter wheat production in the Southern Plains took top honors as the 2018 Collaboration of the Year at the Field to Market Sustainability Leadership Awards Ceremony in Denver, Colo. The winning collaborators on the innovative and successful Southern Plains Wheat Fieldprint® Project included Illinois-based Agrible, Inc., Archer Daniels Midland and General Mills.
- Land O’Lakes SUSTAIN and global ingredient supplier Tate & Lyle announced a new collaboration to advance conservation practices on Midwest farms – specifically in sourcing sustainable corn.
- Organic Materials Review Institute recently approved an organic formulation of Rhizolizer™, a line of non-GMO microbial soil amendments that has proven to be highly successful in increasing yields and reducing time to harvest. The unique treatments, which were developed by Locus Agricultural Solutions™, LLC, have drastically improved the vitality of more than 40,000 acres of crops, leading to demand for organic offerings.
- The Soil Health Institute (SHI) has released a 60-minute documentary that captures the history of the soil health movement. The film features rural and urban farmers from Maryland to California, selling everything from corn to bouquets, united by their care for the soil.
