Soil Summit offers local farmers new information to enrich land

PRINCESS ANNE, Md. – Thursday marked the beginning of a big weekend for UMES, with farmers and scientists on hand for the annual Soil Summit.

This year’s event was the biggest organizers have seen, with the event placed the day before the Small Farms Conference.

Officials tell us this summit is instrumental for area farmers, as the science behind microbes in soil continues to evolve.

Armed with this knowledge, farmers can enrich their soil to retain water, which helps with flooding, making farms more resilient to new weather patterns, as well as absorbing Carbon in the air.

“Building healthy soil is absolutely critical on Delmarva. It’s critical for farmers who want to have the healthiest soil for the healthiest produce.  It is critical for deal with these floods, and it is critical for drawing down carbon,” said Dena Leibman, the executive director for Future Harvest.

This soil summit took place the day before the annual Small Farm Conference.  That conference starts Friday at 11 AM, and runs through Saturday.