Soil Health Foundation grants foster innovation and education

Fostering soil health innovation and education — this is the mission of the Dan Gillespie Soil Health Foundation. And that goal is being achieved.

Battle Creek FFA received a $1,500 grant from the Soil Health Foundation and Nebraska Community Foundation Youth Activities Grant to acquire a state-of-the-art, environmentally controlled grow room. This allowed students to research cover crop varieties and their effectiveness against soil erosion. infiltration.

The project included visual and verbal presentations, with Ryan Zohner and Sydney Kuchar representing the team in the top 10 final rankings at the National FFA Convention.

Akeili Bush, a Central City high school student, also received support from the Soil Health Fund for her scientific research on the effects of land management techniques on soil aggregation and soil microbiome.

Celebrating soil health heroes

These are just two examples of grants for projects that the fund’s namesake, the late no-till farmer and soil health advocate Dan Gillespie, would have supported. Gillespie started no-till farming in 1986. A year later, he joined the Natural Resources Conservation Service and helped develop a cost-share no-till incentive program.

He served as a no-till specialist for NRCS from 2004 until his retirement in 2020. Shortly after his retirement, Gillespie was diagnosed with ALS, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, a terminal neurodegenerative disease. He passed away in February 2022 at the age of 67. To continue Gillespie’s life’s work, his family, friends, and local soil health activists established this fund in his honor.

“At the end of June 2020, Dan and I were sitting at his home in Battle Creek and he turned to me and said, ‘I’d like to donate $5,000 to young farmers who are practicing soil health. ”’ Gillespie’s sister, Rebecca Ebert, recalled. “I thought this was a very generous gesture, especially given his ALS prognosis. So I and other family members agreed to his intention to ‘encourage’ his passion and experience in soil health. It occurred to me that I might be able to help. ”

Thus the Dan Gillespie Soil Health Foundation was established. “Our first grant will support no-till cultivation on the plains and a no-till study across Nebraska, South Dakota, and North Dakota, with more than 20 farmers and agronomists touring no-till operations. “We sponsored a three-day bus trip to visit with people,” Evert said. “Dan has participated in these bus trips and witnessed rainfall simulator demonstrations, which helped him educate himself and adapt soil health habits.”

There are two grant cycles per year, with application deadlines March 1st and October 1st. “Before each grant cycle, members of the Community Foundation of Nebraska and his DG SH Foundation Advisory Board send out a media blast to their email list and contacts soliciting grant applications. ” says Evert. “Committee members score each application individually and then come together to review and discuss the strengths and weaknesses of each application before making a decision to award the grant.”

Applicants who do not fully meet the criteria will have feedback and recommendations so they can reapply. Total donations to the endowment fund have grown to just over $100,000, including individual donations of $10,000 and several challenge donations ranging from $2,500 to $5,000, Ebert said. .

“The annual grant amount available to us is calculated based on total donations, so as the fund grows, so does the grant amount,” she added.

A total of $7,200 has been awarded to date through six grants. However, as new applications were received and reviewed in March and September, a new grant was awarded, increasing the grant amount from $1,500 to $2,900. Ebert said the grant amount will continue to increase.

greater good

Ebert recalls Gillespie repeatedly stating that his lifelong passion for soil health was “for the greater good of all of us.”

“This greater good lies in past, present, and future efforts and doing the greatest possible good for the greatest number of individuals,” she explains. “Our youth are our future and benefit from the support and guidance Dan provided throughout his life through NRCS work and other community and family initiatives. He served as “Dan the Treeman” for many years. As a grade-level conservation educator, as a member of the school board, as an elder in the church, and for the love of my five daughters and grandchildren.

“This fund will allow us to continue supporting young farmers, ranchers, researchers, educators, and community organizations who share and carry on Dan’s passion for soil health.”

The March 1 grant application cycle is now closed, with seven applications considered by the advisory committee, the most in any grant cycle to date. His deadline for the next grant cycle is October 1st.

If you are interested in applying for a Dan Gillespie Soil Health Fund grant, please visit: go.unl.edu/dgfund Click “Apply for a Grant.” You can also write to Dan Gillespie Soil Health Fund, Nebraska Community Foundation, 8100 S. 15th St., Suite A, Lincoln, NE 68512.

Those wishing to donate to the fund can use the same contact information. For more information, contact Evert at 707-322-0670 or email. [email protected].

Projects receiving grants

Dan Gillespie Soil Health Foundation Advisory Committee