About Farmers for Soil Health
The Soy Checkoff, Pork Checkoff, and National Corn Growers Association lead Farmers for Soil Health, a national program which advances the use of soil health practices like cover crops to help improve farmer profitability.
TNsoilhealth.com is a resource for Tennesseans involved in the Farmers for Soil Health program and Tennessee farmers at large.
In keeping with our commitment to advance agricultural education, research, and commerce, Agricenter International is proud to be selected to spearhead the Farmers for Soil Health initiative to increase the adoption of cover crops in the state of Tennessee.
Tennessee Farmers participating in Farmers for Soil Health’s Transition Incentive Payments (TIP) are expected to plant 35,000 acres of cover crops over the course of the program.
Farmer-Led Collaboration
With special support from Tennessee Soybean Promotion Board, Tennessee Corn Growers Association, and Tennessee Pork Producers Association.
Achieving Success
Farmers for Soil Health enables state commodity groups and other partners to assist farmers in implementing and maintaining soil health practices like cover crops through:
Outreach, education and communication
Financial assistance and cost-share opportunities
Technical assistance
Research to identify and address barriers to implementing soil health practices
Measuring Progress
Farmers for Soil Health will track progress through the following measures:
Traceable metrics through a GIS mapping system and farmer audits
Cover crop acres based on NASS Census of Agriculture data
Soil loss based on National Resources Inventory data
Carbon/greenhouse gas emissions, soil loss and water quality, which will be modeled by the Soil Health Institute
Sustainable Pork Production
Sustainable pork production is connected to sustainably-produced corn and soybeans — the two primary ingredients fed to pigs. Farmers have been committed to sustainability as frontline environmental stewards for generations. The partnership between pork, corn and soy farmers through Farmers for Soil Health is advancing the adoption of cover crops and conservation tillage in corn and soybean production to ultimately help pork producers reduce their environmental footprint — since corn and soy are primary ingredients fed to pigs — and improve farmer profitability.
Sustainability Blueprint
The Farmers for Soil Health Sustainability Blueprint outlines how farmers work together to improve the environmental footprint and efficiency of the pork feed supply.
The report features research and results from sustainability‑focused projects completed by Farmers for Soil Health member organizations, along with each organization’s sustainability goals.