As the agricultural community seeks to enhance soil health in response to the Soil Health and Climate Resiliency Act, the New York Soil Health initiative presents its latest policy brief, “Soil Health Benchmarks for New York State Farms.” The brief introduces policy considerations for voluntary soil health metrics, providing benchmarks reflective of the state’s diverse agricultural landscape.
The Soil Health and Climate Resiliency Act (Senate: S4722A/House: A5386A), signed into law in 2021 by Gov. Kathy Hochul, and supported by Cornell research and the state’s farmers, calls for establishing “appropriate voluntary standards and objectives for soil health…reflective of different geographic regions, soil types, and farming operations.”
The policy brief insights stem from a detailed study that collected soil samples across New York. Cornell University researchers used the Comprehensive Assessment of Soil Health analysis at the Cornell Soil Health Laboratory to assess multiple biological and physical indicators. The results were categorized based on two regions (Long Island and all other NYS regions), four soil types, and six cropping systems. The resulting framework of Production Environment Soil Health (PESH) benchmarks was used to establish aspirational targets for farmers.
These benchmarks assist farmers in setting realistic soil health targets, considering factors like climate, soil type, and cropping system.
Researchers with New York Soil Health set the voluntary soil health benchmarks at the 90th percentile of each production environment. These represent soil health levels achieved by the top 10 percent of fields within each production environment. Farmers can use these benchmarks to assess their field’s soil health relative to peers, with the 90th percentile proposed as aspirational targets within specific production environments.
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Categories: New York, Education