Soil Health Partnership Hosts Field Day in Spring Hill

Blog post written by Emily Keiser, communications specialist

The Soil Health Partnership (SHP) joined the Kansas State University Agronomy Department to host a Field Day this week at Guetterman Brothers Family Farms in Spring Hill, Kansas. The event showcased findings from the SHP Cover Crop Report, on-farm soil health data collected from across the Midwest, nutrient management research to help achieve healthy soils and a cover crop root structure demonstration.

Guetterman Brothers Family Farms have been involved in the SHP program since 2019. The Guettermans joined the partnership for the data that supports and improves conservation practices already implemented in their farming operation. This opportunity opened the door for the Guettermans to gather on-farm data and experiment with cover crop trials to find the rate at which they can improve soil organic matter and soil biology within their fields.

“Understanding the principles around conservation and cover crops helps you understand the practices,” says Hayden Guetterman.

During the field day, members of the K-State Agronomy Department gave growers a visual presentation of the value of cover crops by exhibiting a cover crop garden. The open row of different cover crops gave growers a sense of the root structure and the amount of residue a good cover crop stand can leave behind.

An initiative of the National Corn Growers Association, the Soil Health Partnership is an innovative long-term research effort that aims to show U.S. farmers how sustainability through soil health can also lead to increased profitability. Kansas Corn farmers support SHP with their checkoff dollars through the Kansas Corn Commission and with their support of NCGA.