New York Soil Health Challenge

Moonshot Award

Community Impacts

Abstract

We are piloting the New York Soil Carbon Challenge, a participatory soil health monitoring and interpretation framework that combines scientific rigor with peer learning and social norm influences. The Challenge encourages farmers to manage their land to achieve better soil health outcomes by using behavioral science principles to reinforce social norms. 

The project builds on the Production Environment Soil Health (PESH) benchmarks, which help farmers compare soil health indicator values with those of their peers and set realistic goals for their specific production environment, defined by geographic region, soil type, and cropping system.