Indigenous farmers needed for soil health testing
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EmailMichigan State University Extension is working to collaborate with Indigenous farms on quantifying what is living below ground.
The idea of soil health — the health of Gimaamaaminaan Aki, Mother Earth — is not new. It is rooted in centuries of Indigenous knowledge, which forms the basis for good land stewardship and relationships. Only over the past decade, however, have scientists developed ways to quantify what is living below our feet. By breaking down soil health into physical, chemical and biological aspects, we can holistically compare management practices across different time scales.
A newly funded project, “Replenishing the Beings, the Soil Beneath our Feet,” is working through a partnership with Michigan State University Extension and Michigan Inter-Tribal Land Grant Extension System (MILES) educators, community partners, technical assistance networks, U.S. Department of Agriculture staff, and Natural Resources Conservation Service tribal liaisons to assist Indigenous farmers with soil health sampling. Our project seeks to understand how soil health and Indigenous farming practices interact and influence soils’ capacity to grow food, enhance fertility and withstand weather extremes.
This work is supported by the American Rescue Plan Technical Assistance Initiative program, project award no. 2023-70417-39233, from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture.
Options for levels of farmer participation
- Interested in attending educational events and field days.
- I am an Indigenous farmer who is interested in participating in soil health testing. Up to five samples can be taken depending on your farm size.
Farmer partners that select option B
- Contribute to the experimental design of the study by helping to select study fields.
- Engage in annual project meetings.
- Allow researchers to soil sample bi-annually.
- Soil sampling two times per year.
- Farmers will receive a comprehensive soil test report for each sample.
- Communicate with Extension staff about field operations to optimize sampling times.
- Share yield history data and cost of production information.
- All data will be confidential and anonymized.
- Soil can be returned to farms after sampling.
- Complete management surveys and participate in a needs assessment.
- Estimated time obligation per year is about 5 hours.
What indicators will the soil health test report include?
A routine nutrient test report, pH, texture, soil respiration (similar to the Solvita test), permanganate oxidizable carbon (Active Carbon), Autoclaved-citrate extractable protein (organically bound pool of nitrogen), and enzymatic activity (indicative of microbial activity and nutrient cycling). Samples will get processed at the Soil Health and Ecosystem Ecology lab.
How to sign up
Cost
The cost is free.
Enrollment deadline
Deadline to enroll is Sept. 30, 2025.
For more information, please reach out to Monica Jean, MSU Extension field crop educator and PhD student, Soil Health and Ecosystem Ecology Lab, at atkinmon@msu.edu or call 616-443-8782.
