Agricenter International, an agricultural nonprofit located in Memphis, TN, is pleased to announce its partnership with the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), the National Fish and Wildlife Federation (NFWF), and the Farmers for Soil Health (FSH) initiative to improve soil health throughout the state of Tennessee. FSH is a collaboration between the United Soybean Board, the National Pork Board, and the National Corn Growers Association to create a farmer-led cover crop program that advances the use of soil health practices. Through a grant from the USDA and NFWF, Agricenter International will work closely with the Tennessee Soybean Promotion Board, the Tennessee Pork Producers Association, and the Tennessee Corn Growers Association to promote the FSH initiative and accelerate the adoption of cover crops across the state.

Twelve (12) organizations representing 19 states were awarded FSH grants, but Agricenter International was the only recipient in Tennessee. John Butler, who is President of Agricenter International, a Tennessee farmer, and a long-time proponent of cover crops, couldn’t be more pleased.

“As a fifth-generation farmer from Northwest Tennessee, I love the opportunity that we have to help individual farmers meet their sustainability and profitability goals through the use of cover crops,” said Butler. “This is a strategic investment by the USDA into the state of Tennessee, and our team at Agricenter International is extremely excited to work with producers across the state to move this initiative forward. Farmers for Soil Health reduces some of the inherent challenges associated with traditional government programs. It is our hope and goal that we can work with producers in every county in our great state through a lens of increasing cover crop acres.”

Dr. Ben West, Executive Director of Farmers for Soil Health, concurs. “These technical assistance programs will help corn and soybean farmers figure out how best to use cover crops on their farms. All farmers want to be sustainable and profitable, and this program will allow them to do just that.”

The U.S. Census of Agriculture estimates that cover crops are currently used on only 6% of cropland in the United States. Farmers for Soil Health is a climate-smart commodities program that offers per-acre incentives to farmers for the use of cover crops. The overall goal of Farmers for Soil Health is to have 30 million cover crop acres in the United States by 2030. Agricenter International’s goal for the state of Tennessee is to transition 35,000 new acres to the use of cover crops by 2027.

Tennessee Farmers who are interested in this program, have questions, or need technical assistance should feel free to reach out to Agricenter International at TNFarmers@agricenter.org.

Agricenter International, a 1,000-acre farm, is a nonprofit dedicated to advancing knowledge and understanding of agriculture. It has a $524 million annual economic impact on the region, hosts over 1.5 million visitors annually, and educates 13,000 students a year. For more information about the nonprofit, visit www.agricenter.org or call 901-757-7777.