Soil Benchmark hosted a workshop at the World Congress of Soil Science in Glasgow August 2022 to explore how farmers and soil scientists can better work together to share data and improve understanding. 

The full summary, along with a full recording of the panel session, can be viewed on our website: https://www.soilbenchmark.com/wcss

The 5 key takeaways from the recordings and notes of the event can be summarised as:

1. Soil scientists need to communicate clearly and consistently, using farmers’ language (and working with social scientists)
2. Work should be a two-way collaboration – not simply ‘extension’ – e.g. the Innovative Farmers model here in the UK
3. Working through groups and individuals who farmers already trust should be prioritised to avoid farmer ‘fatigue’ or lack of trust.
   1. NB See the attached notes for a list of the organisations mentioned during the session – please get in touch if you know of others (particularly outside the UK/US where the session focused)
4. We need to build a circular funding/results loop between government, farms, and academics
5. We need (in the UK at least) more national level soils information to be made available, including on the impact of policy

We are keen to continue the discussion - feel free to comment below.