Nebraska soil health school: an accomplishment of goals through collaboration

The University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL) team led by Dr. Bijesh Maharjan, associate professor and extension specialist at UNL’s Panhandle Research, Extension and Education Center (PREEC), accomplished another successful series of Nebraska Soil Health Schools hosted by the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) and UNL.

The schools were conducted at three locations from west to east in Nebraska in 2023 and attended by over 200 growers, crop consultants, ag professionals, conservationists, researchers, educators, students, and other stakeholders. After the program was well received in 2023, Maharjan and Nicole Heldt, soil health school coordinator, considered feedback from the school attendees to meet one of the school’s main objectives: to learn from growers, crop consultants, ag professionals about their soil health concerns and needs and address them. One such anonymous feedback led to the development and peer-reviewed publication of a comprehensive soil health management concept – the Soil Health Cycle.

This year’s series of schools aimed to expound upon the original mission to spread the repository of UNL soil health-related knowledge to stakeholders by addressing the recognized concerns and needs with exclusive programs relevant to the region at each location. For 2024, Heldt said the team aimed to emphasize soil health in semi-arid cropping systems with specific programs highlighting dryland, irrigated cropland, or rangeland at multiple locations. Each unique event included, at the very least, the latest on carbon markets, soil health measurements, NRCS soil health demonstrations, and the NRCS live rainfall simulator.

An attendee from the school at UNL’s High Plains Ag Lab (HPAL), which focused on dryland cropping systems, commented that the presentations were relevant to the area as “the presentations demonstrated the challenges associated with implementing soil health practices in semi-arid regions.”

In addition to adapting presentations to the region, Heldt said they targeted keynote speakers known for their soil health knowledge related to challenges experienced in semi-arid cropping systems. At the HPAL event, focused on dryland systems, attendees heard keynote presentations from Gary Peterson, CSU professor emeritus, and David Nielsen, retired USDA-ARS research agronomist, on the impacts of tillage systems, crop residues, and cover crops on soil water and dryland winter wheat yield potential. The challenges and opportunities of implementing cover crops in dryland systems discussed during the HPAL school will be addressed in the new UNL-NRCS collaborative cover crop research with demonstration plots in dryland systems led by Maharjan.

The program was well received, and an attendee said, “great school, I really appreciated your selection of speakers.” 

While carrying the semi-arid theme forward, Heldt said the team realized another goal for the schools by bringing the focused program to larger events as well as a smaller, more isolated area of the Panhandle. With aid from Mitchell Stephenson and Jerry D. Volesky, UNL range and forage specialists and Dave Wedin, director of Center for Grassland Studies, the Nebraska Soil Health School with emphasis on rangeland soil health was on the agenda for the Nebraska Grazing Conference, where it was well received. The two-day conference included an afternoon session on soil health and grasslands where Jerry Hatfield, retired USDA-ARS laboratory director and a keynote presenter from a 2023 soil health school, addressed soil health’s influence on productivity and quality of rangeland. 

“Great idea to add soil health topics in with the Nebraska Grazing Conference,” an attendee at the event said. “I thought it was very beneficial, and it felt like I learned a lot.” 

Moving on to the third event, Stephenson contributed to the program with a focus on integrated crop and livestock system objectives that might affect soil health management at the Fort Robinson State Park school. Maharjan invited keynote speaker Dale Strickler, an experienced Kansas rancher and an internationally recognized agroecologist, author, speaker and consultant, to the Nebraska Panhandle. Strickler explored the development of an alternative crop and grazing system addressing input costs, drought resilience, ecological sustainability, and profitability.

“I really enjoyed listening to Dale Strickler,” an attendee commented. “He has a great point that is also a challenge I run into at work too – crop insurance and federal crop insurance subsidies.”

The smaller-scaled school was a concept from team member Nicolas Cafaro La Menza, assistant professor at UNL’s West Central Research, Extension and Education Center (WCREEC), aspiring to bring presenters to a more remote location for a setting conducive to discussion. Maharjan, Strickler and USDA-NRCS State Soil Health Specialist Nathan Mueller led an active discussion panel in the Fort Robinson State Park restaurant.

La Menza further contributed by working to include the soil health school program at the WCREEC Water, Crops and Soil Health Field Day, with the focus shifting to irrigated cropping systems. At the WCREEC field day, Strickler delivered the keynote address on exploring natural means of growing crops and harnessing them to reduce input costs.

“I thought the university’s presentations on how carbon and soil health can be quantified were excellent,” an attendee at the WCREEC field day said, referring to the Soil Health Gap concept by Maharjan. “It was great to see that we aren’t looking to use a one-size-fits-all approach to soil health.”

By traveling to four locations this year – HPAL near Sydney, Fort Robinson State Park near Crawford, Nebraska Grazing Conference at Kearney, and WCREEC field day at North Platte – the school reached roughly 400 people that included stakeholders, students, educators and USDA employees. Maharjan said this year’s series of schools was an achievement of successfully exploring new goals of developing the program to meet specific needs from past feedback and team collaboration of accomplishment.

Traveling across the state to seven locations in two years, the soil health school shared soil health-related knowledge to develop an understanding of healthy soil for sustainable and productive agriculture with more than 600 stakeholders.

Maharjan would like to thank team members for their guidance and assistance: Stephenson, Cafaro La Menza, Wedin, Jessica Groskopf, Gary Stone, Leslie Johnson, Katja Koehler-Cole and Paul Jasa from UNL and the NRCS.

By its design, the Nebraska Soil Health School is meant to go wherever there is a need for soil health education. For more information and materials on the Nebraska Soil Health School and if you want to organize the school in your institute, agency, or region, contact [email protected]. 

PHOTO: A crowd gathers around the USDA NRCS live rainfall simulator which demonstrates the outcome of different soil health practices, led by Nathan Meuller, USDA NRCS state soil health specialist, at the WCREEC Water, Crops and Soil Health Field Day on Sept. 5. (Photo by Bijesh Maharjan)