On Feb. 28, Monsanto hosted a press conference at the Commodity Classic show in San Antonio, Texas, discussing the recently announced Soil Health Partnership (SHP). The National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) formed the partnership, with support from the Walton Family Foundation and Monsanto Company. A team of industry scientists and experts—the Science Advisory Council—will advise the partnership.

“Monsanto is proud to be a founding supporter and member of this important initiative,” said Michael Doane, Monsanto Sustainability Business Solutions Lead. “While we continue to see great progress in improved genetics, we’re keenly aware that it is essential to unlock the potential that’s right under our feet to sustain higher yields. Improving soil health is what this partnership is all about.”

The Soil Health Partnership aims to measure and communicate the economic and environmental benefits of different soil management strategies and provide a set of regionally specific, data-driven recommendations that farmers can use to improve the productivity and sustainability of their farms.

“Over the next five years, this partnership will work to aggregate regional data to catalyze a platform for knowledge-sharing from farmer to farmer to create a set of best practices to improve soil health,” said Doane.

During the press conference, Doane and the partners explained the process of recruiting a network of demonstration farmers and introduced the first farm family that will participate in the initiative’s demonstration farms. The final list of the 2014 Soil Health Partnership class will be announced later this spring.