New ‘Soil Health Education and Demonstration’ Site Aims to Boost Sustainable Agriculture

A ribbon cutting was held Nov. 15, 2023 at the newly-established Soil Health Education and Demonstration (SHED) facility in De Pere. PC: Fox 11 Online

DE PERE, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) — A ribbon cutting was held Wednesday at the newly-established Soil Health Education and Demonstration (SHED) facility in De Pere, which will work to support water quality and sustainable agriculture initiatives.

Working through the Land Conservation Department, Outagamie County partnered with the Oneida Nation, NEW Water and a number of supporting groups to create the 30-acre parcel SHED site, located at W162 Jordan Court.

Officials say the site demonstrates healthy soil practices and crop rotations, such as cover cropping, no-till and continuous cover.

“When you plow ground, it’s like driving a truck through your living room. You have to rebuild it. In a cropping situation, you destroy all those microorganisms where they have to rebuild their communities again every year,” explained Greg Baneck, land conservation director for Outagamie County. “That’s the advantage of no-till; you allow that soil community to exist and build that soil structure, which helps to bring those nutrients and make them available for the next year’s crops.”

Several pieces of specialized equipment will be housed in a machine building on the SHED site. Local farms will have the opportunity to try out the equipment and soil health practices before making an investment in their own machines.

“We’re really seeing that once farms try it and get used to it… we’re seeing it really start to expand throughout the Basins,” Baneck said.

SHED officials plan to use the site to host annual soil health educational events, and as a meeting space where new sustainable agriculture concepts and soil health ideas can be shared.

Baneck said the public is welcome to visit the SHED site for either self or guided tours.

“We’re kind of at the end of the season here now, but our agronomy staff is already planning for next year — what they want to demonstrate, what they want to try out here.”