2024 SOIL HEALTH IN THE WEST CONFERENCE
The Utah Soil Health Partnership is proud to announce that the 2nd Biennial Soil Health in the West Conference successfully convened hundreds of attendees and organizations on February 6-8th, 2024 in St. George, Utah! The conference held a day of special workshops and in-field exercises preceding the two days of the general sessions and classes held at the Dixie Convention Center.
Staff and attendees at the 2024 Soil Health in the West Conference.
The 2024 conference featured nearly twice as many speakers and sponsors as the 2022 conference, and a marked growth in attendance. Over 350 registrants from Utah, Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, and more attended for 42 breakout sessions, 2 featured keynote lectures, 2 day-long workshops, and 1 keynote Q&A dinner that spotlighted ingredients directly from local Utah producers.
Attendees at the keynote Q&A dinner at Staheli Farm.
Post-conference, attendees reported high satisfaction with the event! Survey respondents universally recommended the event as worthwhile, and chose highly diverse topics as their favored sessions. Favorite topics included a lecture on desert grazing by keynote Alejandro Carrillo, a session on indigenous restorative practices by Navajo farmer James Skeet, sessions on water conservation and carbon management, and many more. One respondent commented that the conference was “one of the best [they had] attended” in 5 years of working with government.
This year’s conference also marked an assembly of organizations committed to healthy soil practices and to supporting the local agricultural community in their efforts to implement and spread those practices. 30 separate companies and organizations sponsored the 2024 conference, as well as 12 of Utah’s own conservation divisions.
Keynote Alejandro Carrillo teaching the in-field grazing workshop.
The team also welcomed reporters from Utah media organizations who covered the event and interviewed several attending experts. View KUER's article by David Condos here.
The next Soil Health in the West Conference will be held in February, 2026. To stay on top of Soil Health Partnership news, join their newsletter here.