October 15, 2015—Spring flooding. Droughts in July. These are the climate factors our nation’s growers must face each year.

Scientists and farmers are creating public-private partnerships that address large scale improvements in agricultural resilience. One key area of focus? Soil health.

To discuss this crucial topic, the Synergy in Science ASA, CSSA, SSSA International Annual Meeting in Minneapolis, MN will hold a “Public Private Partnerships to Improve Soil Health and Agronomic Resiliency” symposium. The symposium will be held Monday, November 16, 2015. Synergy in Science meeting is sponsored jointly by the American Society of Agronomy, Crop Science Society of America, and the Soil Science Society of America.

“These partnerships are necessary to create solutions that farmers can implement as we move into an era of more acute weather events,” says Nick Goeser, the symposium organizer. “We have gathered a diverse group of speakers-from private industry, academia, federal and state agencies, and even a grower, to discuss solutions. We want to be able to give better tools to our farmers.” Goeser also serves as director of the Soil Health Partnership.

“Our challenge in the next few years is to align organizational efforts and farmer incentives to remove barriers using soil health practices within conservation management systems,” says Moira McDonald of the Walton Family Foundation.

Steven Berger, a Certified Crop Adviser (CCA) in Iowa, will discuss soil assessment. “Despite concerns with the new soil health assessments, soil health tests offer a means to start conversations with farmers about many aspects of their soils and improving operations through a cropping systems approach.”

For more information about the Synergy in Science 2015 meeting, visit https://www.acsmeetings.org/. Media are invited to attend the conference. Pre-registration by Nov. 1, 2015, is required. Visit https://www.acsmeetings.org/newsroom for registration information. For information about the “Public Private Partnerships to Improve Soil Health and Agronomic Resiliency”” symposium, visit https://scisoc.confex.com/scisoc/2015am/webprogram/Session14774.html .  

To speak with one of the scientists, contact Susan V. Fisk, 608-273-8091, sfisk@sciencesocieties.org to arrange an interview.