Environmental benefits: means benefits to natural and agricultural resources and human health, including:
(a)
improved air quality;
(b)
surface or ground water quality and quantity;
(c)
improved soil health, including nutrient cycling, soil fertility, or drought resilience;
(d)
reductions in agricultural inputs;
(e)
carbon sequestration or climate resilience;
(f)
increased biodiversity; or
(g)
improved nutritional quality of agricultural products. See Utah Code 4-18-302
Incentives: means monetary incentives, including grants and loans, or non-monetary incentives, including equipment, technical assistance, educational materials, outreach, and market development assistance for market premiums or ecosystem services markets. See Utah Code 4-18-302
Soil health: means the continued capacity of soil to function as a vital living ecosystem that sustains plants, animals, and humans. See Utah Code 4-18-302
Soil health practices: means those practices that may contribute to soil health, including:
(a)
no-tillage;
(b)
conservation tillage;
(c)
crop rotations;
(d)
intercropping;
(e)
cover cropping;
(f)
planned grazing;
(g)
the application of soil amendments that add carbon or organic matter, including biosolids, manure, compost, or biochar;
(h)
revegetation; or
(i)
other practices the department determines contribute or have the potential to contribute to soil health. See Utah Code 4-18-302
State: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes a state, district, or territory of the United States. See Utah Code 68-3-12.5
(2)
The program shall:
(a)
encourage widespread adoption of soil health practices by producers;
(b)
promote environmental benefits;
(c)
advance the understanding of the environmental and economic benefits of soil health practices by producers, policymakers, consumers, and the general public; and
(d)
support scientific research.
(3)
The program may obtain the objectives described in Subsection (2) by:
(a)
providing incentives to implement soil health practices;
(b)
increasing the understanding of the benefit of soil health practices through education and outreach programs;
(c)
advancing scientific understanding of soil health as it relates to:
(i)
the existing conditions of Utah’s agricultural soils, including current carbon storage and carbon storage potential;
(ii)
the on- and off-farm or ranch environmental benefits of soil health practices; and
(iii)
the on- and off-farm or ranch economic benefits of soil health practices;
(d)
evaluating currently available or developing new consistent soil health sampling and testing protocols appropriate for Utah’s agricultural systems; and
(e)
facilitating multi-stakeholder collaboration to advance the understanding of the science of soil health and the implementation of soil health practices, including amongst the federal government and the federal government’s agencies, agencies and political subdivisions of the state, academic or research institutions, non-governmental organizations, private entities, nonprofits, producers, or other parties.
(4)
The department shall provide support to the commission in implementing the program.
