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Inside Ag: Farmers dig deep into soil for greener future

The goal is to lower greenhouse gas emissions, while also helping farmers figure out the best practice to get a nutrient-dense soil.

MOSCOW, Idaho — Harvest is over for farmers, but that doesn't mean it's time to take a break.

This is the time of year where farmers get their hands dirty, digging in to take a closer look at their soil.

University of Idaho Soil and Water System Associate Professor, Zachary Kayler, said farmers test the soil for nutrients. 

They figure out what kind of fertilizers are needed for the next growing season and what changes to make to maintain a healthy soil. 

"Thinking of pests and weeds, water resources, nutrients that they are putting in the soil, building up organic matter – these are all the things that they are targeting in that off season," Kayler said.

If they do this, Kayler said it can help farmers grow a better crop. 

A challenge facing farmers as they look to adjust their soil is that the second largest contributor to greenhouse gas in farming comes from using fertilizer.

In 2022, the University of Idaho received the largest grant in its history – at more than $50 million – to study farmers' dirt.

The goal is to lower greenhouse gas emissions, while also helping farmers figure out the best practice to get a nutrient-dense soil. 

Kayler said there are no definitive results yet.

"We're just have a little bit of monitoring going on. Once we have these applications in, we'll go out to the fields and help them sample, record their results," Kayler said. "But in the end, we're looking for a huge map of Idaho, seeing how much carbon has built into the soil, how much carbon have we lost."

They are working to find ways to reduce nitrogen fertilization, test out cover crops, or even introduce more than one crop at the same time in the same field. 

"Maybe they'll learn that cover cropping will really work well on the farm, but maybe we can come back and say, 'no, actually, you're not going to get the results you think you're going to get,'" Kayler said. "That's kind of the goal, is just learning more about what's going to work here and providing those results to growers around the state."

The money from the grant will help offset the risks of trying things out on these farms, so the farmers aren't losing out on major profits. 

Eventually, initiatives like this could mean you might see new labels on your grains and breads at the grocery story, saying it was grown in a "progressive climate-smart way."

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