The National Corn Growers Assn. (NCGA) announced plans to terminate its Soil Health Partnership (SHP) program due to a lack of funding.

SHP was founded in 2014 to help advance understanding of the impacts of soil health and conservation practices on farm operations, and improve the economic and environmental sustainability of farms.

The organization was originally intended to be a 5-year project but was extended in 2019. While there were only 40 farmers involved in the project at the end of 2015, in 2021 SHP was working with 200 farmers in 16 states to conduct labor-intensive services like conducting replicated trials, soil testing and data analysis.

The program employed 20 people and had partnerships with other organizations for related projects.

Originally designed to be funded by industry partners, non-governmental organizations and other granting organizations, SHP at one time had an annual budget of more than $5 million. NCGA says it will continue to refine and share the data collected by SHP over the years.