June 23 marks National Soil Health Day. Today Virginia Tech, Virginia Cooperative Extension, USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service, and the Virginia Soil Health Coalition are launching a new 4TheSoil initiative that highlights four core principles of soil health management for farmers—keep soil covered, minimize soil disturbance, maximize living roots, and energize with diversity.
As a member of the Virginia Soil Health Coalition, the Chesapeake Bay Foundation (CBF) supports soil management for its ability to reduce polluted runoff from agriculture and trap carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
CBF Virginia Watershed Restoration Scientist Matt Kowalski issued the following statement.
“Simply put, healthy soil means healthy waterways. Soil that is well managed absorbs much more rainfall, so during storms there is less flooding and less polluted runoff flowing into local rivers and streams. Rich living soil provides resiliency to drought, creates more productive farms, and can help sequester carbon to fight climate change.”
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