Soil Health Academy, a non-profit, received a $1.65 million grant from General Mills to help educate and mentor wheat and oat producers as they transition from conventional agriculture practices to soil health-focused regenerative practices, AgDaily reports.
SHA is partnering with the regenerative agriculture consulting company, Understanding Ag LLC. to implement the three-year mentoring and consulting program.
“The grant from General Mills will allow SHA to partner with UA and its cadre of world-class regenerative consultants to deliver critical on-farm consulting and mentoring services to producers involved in the project,” said David Brandt, SHA president. “UA’s consultants will work with these producers to develop three- to five-year regenerative management plans which also incorporate on-farm experimentation and learning.”
The project also includes a major emphasis on documenting and evaluating soil health, crop profitability, and biological diversity benefits through regenerative agriculture.
“We know that farmers learn best from other farmers and the experience and knowledge that these renaissance regenerative agriculture experts provide is unprecedented,” Mary Jane Melendez, president of the General Mills Foundation and chief sustainability and social impact officer for the company.