STAR & STAR+ Program

How’s Your Soil Health? Get a Rating (and more!) with the New STAR Tool

Ever wondered how your field’s soil health is doing? Bring the doctor to your field with the new STAR (Saving Tomorrow’s Agriculture Resources) Tool. Using an online application, Colorado producers can find out how their field ranks on a nationally recognized scale that assesses the health of their soil. The free, straightforward, easily interpretable score reflects the many beneficial practices producers can implement to improve their soil health.

Baking on the Farm: Putting Together a Soil Health Recipe at Milagro Ranch

Felix Tornare, a retired baker of 40 years, has taken on a career in ranching with his wife Sarah. Located in Garfield County, Felix and Sarah spent many years transforming Milagro Ranch while running a bakery. The Tornares saw a need to improve soil health for production, specifically on irrigated pastures, and to enhance ecosystem services on their property. They enrolled in the Colorado Soil Health Program through their conservation district, and the results have been a success to say the least.

Soil Health is the STAR of Rocky Mountain Roundtable

Sitting in the newly built Confluence Theater in CSU Spur’s Hydro building, one might reasonably think that water is the subject most discussed in the location. And while it certainly was a key part of the conversation, Colorado’s water took a back seat to the main topic at hand during two sunny days in September 2023: soil health.

Soil Health Advisory Committee Selects Local Partners to Support Soil Conservation

The Colorado STAR soil health program is expanding to an estimated 300 producers, with the addition of 21 Conservation Districts and 7 eligible entities to the list of STAR Plus administrating entities. Funding for this expansion comes from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Climate Smart Commodities (CSC) grant, which invested $3.1 billion in 141 projects across the country. CDA was the only state department of agriculture to be selected as a project lead on a CSC grant. 

2024 Soil Health Program Report

The Colorado Soil Health Program launched in 2022 as a partnership between the Colorado Department of Agriculture, Colorado State University, the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), and many other partners. This program grew out of a stakeholder process facilitated by the Colorado Collaborative for Healthy Soils in 2019 that involved more than 250 stakeholders and resulted in the passage of HB21-1181 and SB21-235.

Approaches to Soil Health and Water in the Lower Ark

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Colorado Department of Agriculture and Acres U.S.A. will convene the 2nd in a series of Colorado STAR regional events on Friday, February 24, 2023.

Please join us at 8 a.m. at the Agricultural Experiment Station at Rocky Ford, CO.
 

SPEAKERS INCLUDE:

First Regional Colorado STAR Soil Health Event To Be Held in San Luis Valley

The Colorado Department of Agriculture, Acres U.S.A., and the Mosca-Hooper Conservation District will host the first in a series of Colorado Soil Health regional events in the San Luis Valley on Saturday, August 13. This free event is part of the Colorado STAR Program and will include farm tours, educational presentations, guest speakers, and a keynote address from Jimmy Emmons, a soil health champion and producer from Oklahoma. The event is free, however registration is required at ag.colorado.gov/events.