The Nebraska Soil Health School, coordinated by Dr. Bijesh Maharjan, associate professor and extension specialist at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s (UNL) Panhandle Research, Extension, and Education Center, was modeled and developed in 2023-2024 to meet the needs of Nebraska’s agricultural community. In February 2025, the school reached a milestone achievement that Maharjan had envisioned. It evolved into an on-demand event that traveled to a requested venue to deliver a soil health educational program specific to invited agricultural producers’ current soil health needs.
“We were very excited to introduce this ‘on-demand’ approach, which brings university faculty directly to communities instead of traditional extension-hosted events,” Maharjan said. “There is a sense of need for our program that motivates us, as the faculty and producer group is involved in planning, setting up the event, and inviting fellow producers and is, therefore, invested in the event. This simple yet effective outreach method can extend our reach, as evidenced by a few producers attending the school in this small town of 150 people who had never been to NE Extension events before.”
With the repository of soil health educators that span UNL, USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), and Nebraska stakeholders gained from two years of successful Nebraska Soil Health Schools, Maharjan was prepared to meet the request to deliver a two-day soil health school. Kristen Efurd, director at Regenerative Agriculture, and Jennifer Carr, Pitman Family Farms, specifically requested a 14-hour agenda that would educate invited Nebraska farmers supplying corn to Pitman Family Farms in the poultry industry on regenerative soil health practices.
“We recognize that soil health is fundamental to regenerative agriculture and the quality of our supply chain. Therefore, we reached out to Dr. Maharjan and the Nebraska Soil Health School,” Efurd said. “At Pitman Family Farms, we understand that the biggest regenerative impact in chicken production comes from the feed supply chain, not the acres where birds are raised. By improving soil health practices with our corn producers, we can create positive environmental change at a much larger scale.”
The event was hosted in Brunswick, Nebraska, by John Meuret, merchandiser for J.E. Meuret Grain Company and facilitator of Pitman Family Farm’s contracted corn producers. The school got underway with a welcome from Meuret, Carr, and Maharjan that set the tone for an interactive agenda focused on regenerative soil health practices related to the region.
“This educational event gives our contracted farmers the specific knowledge they need to implement regenerative practices effectively,” Efurd said. “The on-demand model of the NE Soil Health School is precisely what our network needed – targeted expertise delivered directly to the farming community that forms the foundation of our supply chain.”
Presenters across the two-day event included Paul Jasa, UNL extension research engineer, Ben Beckman, UNL extension educator, Candy Thomas, USDA NRCS regional soil health specialist, Michael Kaiser, UNL associate Professor, Steve Tucker, advanced regenerative farmer, Robert Ellis, American Farmland Trust, and Maharjan. As an invaluable resource in the presentation and discussion sessions, Jasa addressed no-till systems, soil structure and compaction, farming equipment, and cover crops as they relate to soil health and conservation agriculture.
The agenda also included livestock and manure interactions with soil health, an update on NRCS programs and practices enhancing soil health, application of biochar in corn/soybean systems, firsthand experiences from a Nebraska farmer, soil health management and measurement practices, and an economic case study on soil health practices. In addition to the presentation program, Maharjan planned the school to include discussion periods as well as networking opportunities for the invited farmers.
“Bringing the NE Extension to the people enabled more producers to have exposure that otherwise would have been hard to attend,” Meuret said. “This small group setting on the customers ‘turf’ made the interaction so much more valuable.”
Overall, the attendees of the first on-demand Nebraska Soil Health School model commented that the school was excellent and provided good, relevant information.
“These kinds of ‘on demand’ extension events require a collaborative approach based on longstanding relationships among faculty,” Maharjan said. “Without the support of faculty and other partners such as NRCS and their willingness to participate and contribute on short notice, it will be difficult to respond to stakeholders’ needs. So, we are very grateful to our colleagues who could support us this time and in the past.”
By its design, the school is meant to go wherever there is a demand for soil health education. For more information on the Nebraska Soil Health School and if you want to host the school in your institute, agency, or region, contact Nicole Heldt at nheldt@unl.edu.
