He works for the soil, farmers, the planet

Here’s another reason to celebrate Ohio Agriculture Week, March 10-16:

CFAES’ Rattan Lal, esteemed soil scientist in the School of Environment and Natural Resources (SENR), recently achieved an unusual triple crown, winning the prestigious World Soil Prize, World Agriculture Prize, and Japan Prize in the span of about four months.

Continue reading He works for the soil, farmers, the planet

How to put your soil health in clover

Wilmington College in southwest Ohio plans a two-part Cover Crops Symposium on Thursday, March 21. The college’s Agriculture Department, CFAES’ OSU Extension outreach arm, and the Clinton County Soil and Water Conservation District are the sponsors.

Continue reading How to put your soil health in clover

‘Dig into soil health’ at special free workshop

An upcoming workshop will give you advice on how to test and improve your soil. Called “Digging into Soil Health: What Tests Can Tell Us About Our Soil,” the event is set for 1–4:30 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 14, in Dayton, ahead of the annual conference of the Ohio Ecological Food and Farm Association (OEFFA).

Continue reading ‘Dig into soil health’ at special free workshop

CFAES soil scientist Rattan Lal wins Japan Prize

Rattan Lal, Distinguished University Professor of Soil Science in CFAES’ School of Environment and Natural Resources, was today (Jan. 16) announced as a winner of the 2019 Japan Prize, considered one of the most prestigious honors in science and technology.

Japan Prize Foundation press release said the award is for Lal’s work in proposing and practicing sustainable soil management methods that contribute to “both the stability of food security and environment conservation for climate change mitigation.”

More details to come.

Lal receives World Soil Prize

CFAES scientist Rattan Lal (pictured) received the Glinka World Soil Prize in a ceremony at the Rome headquarters of the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization on Dec. 5, World Soil Day. The award is considered the highest honor in the soil science profession.

Lal, whose scientific career spans more than 50 years, is Distinguished University Professor of Soil Science in the School of Environment and Natural Resources. He was recognized for, among other things, his contributions to sustainable soil management and his research on restoring soil carbon, the latter being a way to increase crop yields, reduce hunger and remove climate change-causing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.

Read the full story. (Photo: Ken Chamberlain, CFAES.)

Join the conversation about soil balancing

The next “Soil Balancing Call-in Conversation,” organized by CFAES’s Organic Food and Farming Education and Research program, is today, Wednesday, Nov. 14, from 1:30-3 p.m. The theme is “Soil Balancing: What Do the Numbers Say About Its Effects on Soils, Crops, Weeds and Farms?” There’s still time to register to participate.

The third conversation in the series, called “Soil Balancing: The Questions Matter,” is set for Dec. 12.

Download the flyer for the series.

‘Exceptional achievements’ on behalf of soils

CFAES scientist Rattan Lal, pictured, who studies the ability of soil to address such global issues as climate change, food security and water quality, has received the 2018 World Agriculture Prize from the Global Confederation of Higher Education Associations for Agricultural and Life Sciences (GCHERA).

The award honors Lal’s “exceptional and significant lifetime achievements” in the agricultural and life sciences, GCHERA officials said. It was presented Oct. 28 in a ceremony at China’s Nanjing Agricultural University.

Lal is Distinguished University Professor of Soil Science in the School of Environment and Natural Resources. He is the director of CFAES’s Carbon Management and Sequestration Center, is an adjunct professor with the University of Iceland, and is the president of the Vienna-based 60,000-member International Union of Soil Sciences.

Read the full story. (Photo: John Rice, CFAES.)