McDonald’s Digging Into Healthier Soils

(ST. LOUIS, MO) The Soil Health Partnership’s recent Soil Health Summit 2019 was the largest ever. With 360 registered farmers, educators and environmentalists investing two days to talk about soil health. The summit provided many takeaway messages and insights of interest. For example, enthusiasm for learning new sustainability practices and adopting new farm management tools to protect and improve soil is not being slowed by a prolonged downturn in the farm economy. Outreach efforts are building a diverse coalition of partners from farms all the way to consumers. The common interest of proving the latest farming techniques, building healthier soils, cleaner water while maintaining farmer profitability is getting positive attention outside of agriculture, including with elected officials. Though more than 60 percent of the funding for the summit came directly from farmers or through their commodity organizations, sponsors like McDonald’s, Environmental Defense Fund, and others provide more than just funding for a one-time event. The outside investment is providing a valuable link from farmers to consumers. Find more online here: www.soilhealthpartnership.org