Farm Foundation, NFP and the Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation initiated the Soil Renaissance to advance soil health and make soil health the cornerstone of land use management decisions. The Soil Renaissance focuses on the role of soil health in vibrant, profitable and sustainable natural resource systems, as well as the critical importance of soil and soil health in meeting the challenge of feeding 9 billion people by 2050.

While Farm Foundation, NFP and the Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation are leading the Soil Renaissance, collaboration will be the linchpin to its success. No single person or organization can fully address the diverse and complex issues of soil health across the nation and the world. Advancing soil health requires a sustained effort by all stakeholders.

This endeavor began in the fall of 2013 when 25 soil health thought leaders, working in industry, academia, research, government agencies and production agriculture, came together at the Noble campus in Ardmore, Okla., to talk about soil health. The Ardmore Group identified the four pillars around which the Soil Renaissance is built: economics, measurement, research and education.

Those thought leaders then enlisted other stakeholders to be part of the Strategic Planning Team. Their efforts produced the vision and mission statement, and the guiding principles for Soil Renaissance work, as well as goals in each of the work areas, identifying objectives and strategies to achieve each goal.