Farmers invited to discuss soil health practices at UI Extension forum in Twin Falls

TWIN FALLS, Idaho — Dec. 23, 2024 — Area farmers are invited to share their successes and failures with agronomic practices intended to improve soil during the annual Magic Valley Soil Health Forum, scheduled for Jan. 8 on the College of Southern Idaho (CSI) campus.

No admission will be charged to attend the forum, which will be hosted from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. in the CSI Taylor Building and will include lunch. Farmers are asked to RSVP by Jan. 3.

Sponsors include University of Idaho Extension, Twin Falls Soil and Water Conservation District, The Nature Conservancy, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service and Regenerative Agriculture Network of Idaho.

Linda Schott, an assistant professor and UI Extension specialist of nutrient and waste management at the Twin Falls Research and Extension Center, and Courtney Cosdon, a soil health Extension instructor at the Idaho Water Center based at University of Idaho-Boise, are the forum’s lead organizers.

The event will include three breakout sessions, during which participants will choose from a list of topics for concurrent small-group discussions pertaining to soil health. Area growers and advisors will offer knowledge and personal accounts to kick off discussions, but most of the time during each session will be reserved for growers in the audience to share their own experiences and ask questions. The forum will conclude with a networking hour from 3:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.

“We are a national leader in growing a lot of really important crops and we need to ensure Idaho can continue to grow those crops and be profitable,” Schott said. “We don’t have as much organic matter as in the Midwest and we never will, but we need to protect and grow what we do have.”

Breakout sessions will cover topics such as reducing inputs, rotational considerations when using cover crops, late-season cover cropping, soil health practices that work best for farmers who raise root crops, getting started with soil health practices, integrating livestock with cover cropping, the economics of soil health, making decisions about cover crops and no-till farming.

The forum was started several years ago by a former district conservationist with NRCS, Steve Schuyler. Last year’s forum drew about 90 farmers from throughout southern and eastern Idaho.

“This is a farmer-to-farmer learning network about soil health,” Schott said. “Farmers will get up and talk about their experiences with implementing soil health practices – good and bad – and lessons learned so others can learn from that.”