Utah Soil Health Partnership
With funding from the USDA/NRCS and the Utah State Legislature in 2021, the Utah Department of Agriculture and Food (UDAF) created the Utah Soil Health Program. Further, they developed the Utah Soil Health Partnership (USHP) to bring together various partners, agencies, and stakeholders to promote the adoption of soil health practices in Utah. USU researchers from across campus are part of the project in various capacities, including CANRI Director Dr. Jessica Schad who is learning from crop advisors and producers in the state what some of the barriers they face to adopting and maintaining soil health practices.
Publications and Presentations
- Petrzelka, P., Ulrich-Schad, J.D. & Yost, M. Utah producers and soil health: digging deeper. Agric Hum Values (2025). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10460-024-10697-7
- Petrzelka, P., Ulrich-Schad, J. D., Yost, M., & Barnett, M. J. (2024). Crop advisors in the intermountain west and the challenges of soil health. Agricultural & Environmental Letters, 9, e20142. https://doi.org/10.1002/ael2.20142
- Petrzelka, P., Ulrich-Schad, J. & Yost, M. “We’re very late to the party”: motivations and challenges with improving soil health in Utah. Agric Hum Values 41, 381–386 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10460-023-10467-x
- Peggy Petrzelka, J. D. U.-S. (2025, January 21). Agricultural Producers’ motivations and challenges with improving soil health in Utah. USU. https://extension.usu.edu/crops/research/challenges-with-improving-soil-health-in-utah
- Peggy Petrzelka, J. D. U.-S. (2025a, January 13). Utah producers and Soil Health: Statewide Survey Results. USU. https://extension.usu.edu/crops/research/utah-producers-and-soil-health-statewide-survey-results
- Peggy Petrzelka, J. D. U.-S. (2025a, January 13). Crop advisor approaches to soil health advising and opportunities for improvement. USU. https://extension.usu.edu/crops/research/approaches-to-soil-health-and-improvement