“Demonstrating Soil Health in the Badger State” was held on August 7th, 2024 at the University of Wisconsin – Madison (UW) Arlington Agricultural Research Station. The event was hosted by the Soil Health Alliance for Research & Engagement (SHARE). Seventy-two people were in attendance, including academics, extension staff, and producers. The event included a panel discussion from soil health experts, networking opportunities, and a demonstration of soil health and ecological measurements at the Wisconsin Integrated Cropping Systems Trial (WICST).
The UW Dairy Soil and Water Regeneration (DSWR) team lead the demonstrations at WICST. The demonstrations included a USDA-ARS rainfall simulator, deep soil sampling, saturated hydraulic conductivity measurements, soil greenhouse gas measurements, and earthworm quantification. Each demonstration was staffed by the DSWR crew, UW graduate students, and UW undergraduate students. Event participants were allowed to move from demo-to-demo at their own pace, so that they could learn more about the topics that were most interesting to them. The event lasted about an hour.
Greta Hippensteel, a DSWR field research specialist, who helped to staff the saturated hydraulic conductivity demonstration station, said:
“The SHARE field day was a great opportunity to present our work to a passionate and environmentally minded group of people. I was proud to talk about the work we do, and loved the inspired conversations and questions that came out of the event. I am hopeful that the connections we made while showcasing our field work can grow into more collaboration and action in soil health initiatives.”
Ashley Becker, a PhD student in Randy Jackson’s lab at UW-Madison, who helped staff the deep soil sampling station, said:
“The field demos offered a great opportunity to talk about the practicalities of measuring soil health and importantly, why those soil health measurements are valuable. I enjoy participating in these events because I always learn something new, even as a presenter, and get meet new people who bring their unique perspective to conservation.”
A similar demonstration, Organic Research & Climate-Smart Commodities Field Day, will be held on August 26, 2024 at WICST.
DSWR team members Porter Reim (left) and Greta Hippensteel (right) staff the saturated hydraulic conductivity measurements for the Demonstrating Soil Health in the Badger State field day. Photo by Ashley Becker.