Ohio Soil Health Initiative

The Ohio Soil Health Initiative (OSHI) is a coalition of farmers, organizations, and agencies committed to improving soil health. Our goal is to advance positive soil health outcomes that are based on sound principles and increase the adoption of validated health soils practices by securing Ohio’s commitment to healthy soils policy and programs.

The Benefits of Soil Health are Clear

Health soils hold more water, reduce run-off, and protect water quality. Healthy soils require less fertilizer, result in better, healthier crops, and provide a positive return on investment for farmers. Additionally, as we see the impacts of ever-increasing extreme weather events, these practices also sequester carbon to mitigate harmful greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to climate change.

Members and Advisors

Policy Grounded in Farmer Experiences

Our collective work on soil health is grounded in the experience and needs of Ohio farmers. OEFFA has been holding listening sessions to gather feedback from farmers implementing soil health practices to learn from their experience and to identify policies and programs that will best serve those needs.

State Policy Grounded in National Expertise

OEFFA is a member of the National Healthy Soils Policy Network, and incubator for state-level healthy soils policy across the country. We are also members of the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition and the National Organic Coalition. National and state expertise is grounded in the experience of Ohio farmers, with the goal of bringing Ohio into the fold of states who are realizing the imperative of investing in soil health policy.

Contact us today to share your interest in soil health and be part of this work!