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SHAPE: Soil Health Assessment Protocol and Evaluation Tool
Farmers and landowners are invited to participate in SHAPE: Soil Health Assessment Protocol and Evaluation, a national effort focused on better understanding and improving soil health across the U.S.
By participating, you’ll receive:
Compensation for your time
A personalized soil health report for your fields — a value of approximately $1,200 per field
A copy of Probing Our Country’s Soil Health
Valuable insight into your soil and management practices
What’s required? Fields must be 10 acres or more, along with a one-hour management survey and access to your fields for soil sampling.
This is a great opportunity to learn more about the health of your soil while contributing to a nationwide soil health project! 
Interested or have questions? Contact SHAPE.probingsoilhealth@gmail.com.
Farmers and landowners are invited to participate in SHAPE: Soil Health Assessment Protocol and Evaluation, a national effort focused on better understanding and improving soil health across the U.S. By participating, you’ll receive: Compensation for…
Farmers for Soil Health Enrollment Checklist
☐ FSA provided maps – required to be provided by enrollee
☐ Farm, tract, field number(s), and acres of enrolled fields listed on map
*Road designations on maps are beneficial
☐ Indicate whether the enrolled field is irrigated
☐ Identify current tillage system on enrolled fields (conventional, mulch, strip till, no-till)
☐ Current commodity crop to be harvested in 2026
☐ Type of cover crop to be planted after harvesting 2026 commodity crop
☐ Identify where cover crop will be planted (entire field or portion)
☐ If only part of field, mark location and acres on FSA map
☐ Describe method of cover crop termination
Required documents to be provided by enrollee
☐ FSA Subsidiary Print (for 2026 and also 2027, when available)
☐ FSA 156EZ showing control of enrolled field(s)
☐ W-9 for individual/entity receiving payment
Supporting documents – provide as many as possible
☐ Seed tickets of cover crop
☐ Seed analysis of cover crop
☐ Photos
☐ FSA-578 crop reporting document
☐ Planting records
☐ FSA provided maps – required to be provided by enrollee☐ Farm, tract, field number(s), and acres of enrolled fields listed on map*Road designations on maps are beneficial☐ Indicate whether the enrolled field is irrigated☐…
Kansas Grasslands Issue Brief
The Kansas Department of Agriculture and the Kansas Association of Conservation Districts are pleased to share a new foundational report on Kansas Grasslands that highlights the importance of grasslands to the state and identifies action steps to continue and enhance the conservation of those grasslands for the future of Kansas.
KDA has been working in partnership with the Kansas Association of Conservation Districts, with the support of the Natural Resources Conservation Service, on a joint project to determine action steps to encourage and support efforts to assist Kansans in the conservation of their working grasslands. The initiative included a series of in-person discussions around the state and a public survey. The input received from ranchers, landowners and other interested Kansans was compiled into a final Issue Brief which was shared with project participants and posted on the KDA website.
Native grasslands make up more than 15 million acres of agricultural land in Kansas. In addition to other ecological and economic benefits, these grasslands serve a critical role as grazing land for cattle. As the state’s largest agricultural industry, the beef industry provides income and economic prosperity to thousands of Kansas ranchers, businesses, and workers throughout the state.
The Kansas Grasslands Issue Brief outlines actionable steps to keep this valuable natural resource in healthy working condition. It includes information to help educate a broad audience about the importance of working grasslands, as well as action steps that could be taken to improve and conserve working grasslands for future generations. The final product has been reviewed by a technical team of researchers to make sure the science is strong, and it has been informed and reviewed by ranchers to make sure it is accurate and reflects their work and experience.
“This Issue Brief will be an important resource to make sure we can continue to help ranchers and landowners with their work to ensure the long-term sustainability of rangelands,” said Dan Meyerhoff, executive director of the Kansas Association of Conservation Districts. “It is a great example of what can happen when ranchers, researchers, state and federal agencies, and non-governmental organizations come together to pursue long-term change.”
The contributors of this project encourage all Kansans to read the report and learn how we can all work together to ensure that grasslands continue to be a productive, valuable resource for generations of Kansans to come. Find the Issue Brief and other materials related to the Kansas Grasslands project at www.agriculture.ks.gov/grasslands.
The Kansas Department of Agriculture and the Kansas Association of Conservation Districts are pleased to share a new foundational report on Kansas Grasslands that highlights the importance of grasslands to the state and identifies action…
October 2025- Brian Rast: Nature-Based Solutions and Modeling
Follow along with the above presentation by using the PowerPoint slides at the end of this page. Additional resources for this webinar can be found below.
Additional resources:
Kansas Healthy Watersheds Presentation- https://usace.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/p16021coll2/id/7640
Nature-Based Solutions Final Report and ID Cards- https://www.agriculture.ks.gov/divisions-programs/division-of-water-resources/water-structures/floodplain-management/mapping/nature-based-solutions-805
Silver Jackets- https://www.iwr.usace.army.mil/Silver-Jackets/
KDHE- Kansas Watershed Management Section- https://www.kdhe.ks.gov/974/Watershed-Management-Section Email Scott Satterthwaite with questions- scott.satterthwaite@ks.gov
Soil Health and Water Quality Story Map- https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/1efcfe1924fc4daf85a7958c0a41fa5a
Follow along with the above presentation by using the PowerPoint slides at the end of this page. Additional resources for this webinar can be found below. Additional resources: Kansas Healthy Watersheds Presentation- https://usace.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/p16021coll2/id/7640 Nature-Based Solutions…
