The Texas Soil Health Short Course will focus on building a functioning foundation Feb. 22-23 at the Region 9 Educational Center in Wichita Falls.
The workshop will offer attendees a greater understanding of dynamic soil properties including water infiltration, water holding capacity and organic matter content.
Farmers’ practical approaches to implementing a Soil Health Management System on their farm will also be discussed.
“We are very excited to bring this opportunity to farmers and ranchers in Texas,” Nathan Haile, soil health specialist with USDA-NRCS in Texas, said. “The topic of soil health is now found in every major farm magazine, at farm shows and in publications across the nation. This is a great opportunity to better define soil health and why it is important to growers.”
The short course will feature leading researchers and producers in soil health.
Speakers include: Dr. Paul Delaune, assistant professor, Texas A&M Research; Terry McAlister, Wichita County farmer; Dr. Jason Warren, Oklahoma State University associate professor and Extension specialist; Dr. Bob Steward, director of dryland agriculture, Texas A&M-Canyon; Steve Marten, Archer County farmer; and Clay Pope, Oklahoma producer and liaison with the USDA Southern Plains Climate Hub.
The short course will pair researchers with farmers to provide the scientific dynamic soil properties followed by practical on-farm approaches to implementation.
Conservation demonstrations and soil pits will be used to show how a soil health system has improved water infiltration, soil porosity, increase biological activity and greater nutrient efficiency.
The short course will also feature a “My Land to Your Tap” social hour on Feb. 22 that will feature a Rainfall Simulator. This demonstration will provide insight on how functioning soil is important to water providers and users downstream.
“Soils are the foundation of life and the factory of biological workers that help us provide necessities for our society,” Haile said in the report from USDA. “Understanding how to manage the soil to improve that factory’s efficiency is critical for farmers and ranchers, not only for their own economic benefit but the benefit of the nation.”
Early bird registration is $75 for the short course and $25 for the field tour by Feb. 1, followed by regular registration of $100 and $40, respectively.
For more registration information, visit the NRCS Texas website and click on the Soil Health Short Course banner on the main page.