Helping Farmers Make Informed Soil Health Decisions Focus of Mallory’s Research
Ellen Mallory, a sustainable agriculture specialist with the University of Maine Cooperative Extension and a professor in the School of Food and Agriculture, is leading a project that aims to help inform farmers’ decisions about adopting soil health strategies.
The yearlong project, “Building knowledge, skills and networks for soil security in Maine,” received a $44,442 grant from the University of Vermont which administers funds from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA).
Protecting and improving soil on farms is critical to the long‐term productivity of agriculture in Maine, according to the researchers. However, many agriculture service providers say they are ill-equipped to help farmers and cite a lack of region‐specific information and concrete local examples of successful cover cropping, reduced tillage and rotational practices.
The project will establish teams of agricultural service to increase their ability to help farmers make informed decisions about adopting specific soil health strategies for three farm types: potato‐grain in northern Maine, dairy in central Maine, and mixed vegetable in south‐central Maine, according to the proposal.
Team members will participate in training, work with farmers on demonstration trials, and create video and written profiles of successful soil health/cover cropping practices with how‐to information that will be made available to the public on a project website, the researchers state.