Agreement Number
NR243A750011G011
Awardee Name
TEXAS A&M AGRILIFE RESEARCH
Grant Type
On-Farm Trials-Soil Health Demonstration Trial
Project Title
Soil Health Demonstrations to Increase Regenerative Agricultural Intensification in the Southern High Plains
Awardee State/Territory
Texas
Involved States/territories
Oklahoma
Texas
Award Year
2023
Start Date
End Date
Award Amount
$4,999,387.00
Production/Use
Farmland Agricultural
Grassland (includes pasture/rangeland)
Resource Concern (Broad)
Air
Energy
Habitat
Soil
Water
Resource Concern (Specific)
Aggregate instability
Carbon emissions and sequestration
Carbon sequestration
Carbon stock; carbon emissions
Compaction
Cover cropping
Degraded plant condition
Emissions of greenhouse gases (GHGs)
Emissions of particulate matter (PM) and PM precursors
Energy efficiency of farming/ranching practices and field operations
Erosion
nitrogen or phosphorus issues
Nutrients
Nutrients transported to surface water
Organic matter depletion
Plant pest pressure
Plant productivity and health
PM - dust from field operations
Pollinator habitat
Soil Health
Soil organism habitat loss or degradation
Soil Structure
Surface water depletion
Water Quality
Water Quantity
Wildlife habitat
Windblown dust
Conservation Practice(s)
Conservation Crop Rotation
Cover Crop
Nutrient Management
Project Background
This project aims to sustainably intensify agricultural production on the Southern Great Plains
through adopting soil health management in semi-arid cropping systems. The key objectives are to: 1) identify adoption barriers to soil health management system (SHMS) and pathways to overcome them, 2) demonstrate successes through implementation on-farm and dissemination of knowledge of SHMS, 3) increase understanding of field-level processes, effects, and optimization of agricultural intensification using SHMS, 4) quantify the field and regional effects of SHMS, and 5) evaluate the economics of SHMS adoption at farm and regional scales. On-farm SHMS demonstrations will be initiated on 10 innovation and 100 observation farms within the region. We expect this project will increase cover crop adoption by 20% and no-tillage by 25% in the Southern Great Plains region and, thus, agricultural production will increase by 25% while decreasing the environmental footprint.
through adopting soil health management in semi-arid cropping systems. The key objectives are to: 1) identify adoption barriers to soil health management system (SHMS) and pathways to overcome them, 2) demonstrate successes through implementation on-farm and dissemination of knowledge of SHMS, 3) increase understanding of field-level processes, effects, and optimization of agricultural intensification using SHMS, 4) quantify the field and regional effects of SHMS, and 5) evaluate the economics of SHMS adoption at farm and regional scales. On-farm SHMS demonstrations will be initiated on 10 innovation and 100 observation farms within the region. We expect this project will increase cover crop adoption by 20% and no-tillage by 25% in the Southern Great Plains region and, thus, agricultural production will increase by 25% while decreasing the environmental footprint.
Project Scale
Field-level
Multi-farm
Regional
Project targeted to Historically Underserved producers?
No
Awardee Technical Contact Name
Joseph A. Burke