The Utah Department of Agriculture and Food (UDAF) is pleased to announce the opening of the Local Soil Health Workshop Grant. The Soil Health Advisory Committee has been awarded $30,000 of federal funds under the Agricultural Soil Health Outreach Project (AgSHOP) to support various organizations in planning workshops and educational events that spread awareness about soil health and regenerative farming principles and practices. The grant is meant to increase opportunities for Utah agricultural producers and professionals to learn about regenerative farming practices and build local networks of soil health-focused individuals.
“We at the Utah Department of Agriculture and Food hope that this grant gives more people access to soil health learning opportunities,” said UDAF Commissioner Craig Buttars. “This grant will assist our programs to empower local resources to develop strong programs and communities of their own to better support individuals. We look forward to the events that will be supported under this grant.”
The Local Soil Health Workshop grant under AgSHOP will be distributed in increments between a minimum of $1,500 and a $10,000 maximum to directly support planning individual or multiple events in Utah that pertain to soil health and soil health education in 2025. The purpose of the grant is to enable new events or to significantly expand the scope of existing events. Eligible organizations include those that work with agriculture producers in Utah, those with the capacity and experience to host quality events, and/or those with grant management experience.
“The AgSHOP project is an amazing opportunity for Utah and the surrounding region to promote soil health principles and practices through regional and local knowledge sharing by bringing together our soil health champion farmers who are implementing these principles in our own backyard,” said Tony Richards, Soil Health Program Manager. “This funding will allow our local partners to host high quality localized events around soil health in communities throughout the state.”
UDAF is dedicated to increasing awareness and adoption of practices that encourage healthy soils and improve the state of Utah farmland and rangeland. A number of factors will be considered when awarding funds, including but not limited to number of events, expected attendance, partner involvement, previous experience, and willingness to engage in soil health localization efforts. New or expanding events will be prioritized in the application process.
The grant application window will open from May 6th, 2024 and will close on June 14th, 2024.
To apply, visit https://udafgrants.utah.gov/submit or contact [email protected] for
more information.
The AgSHOP project is part of efforts of the Utah Soil Health Partnership, Working Together to Improve Utah’s Soils, visit www.utahsoilhealth.org and ag.utah.gov/farmers/conservation-division/soil-health-program to learn more.
