The Director of the Indiana State Dept of Agriculture, Ted McKinney, stopped by the Soil Health Summit last week in Indianapolis to show support for the direction of the program.
“[The Soil Health Partnership] is outstanding, primarily because it brings together a lot of different groups to be aligned and focused on a single purpose.
One of the best things that they’re doing, is they are data driven. You have the evidence points to show farmers the benefits of improved soil health. We know what they are; you retain moisture better, and that helps in the case of a drought. It allows for much better drainage in the case of rainfall, which was plentiful in most parts of Indiana in 2015.”
McKinney is proud of those farmers in his state, and across the US, who have already begun to focus on improving soil quality through measurable standards. “We’re the only state that’s measuring the reductions or the retention of sediment, nitrogen, and phosphorous in the soil. We’re very proud of that because we’ve been able to tell the public, it’s working. These practices are working.”
For more from McKinney’s interview: [wpaudio url=”http://traffic.libsyn.com/zimmcomm/shs16-mckinney.mp3″ text=”Interview with Ted McKinney, IN Director of Ag”]