New 'PED Talks' series digs into soil health

The importance of soil health is being highlighted in a new series of 10-to-15-minute, science-centered “PED Talks” on YouTube designed to engage and educate a wide range of audiences on the topic.

Inspired by similarly named “TED Talks,” the soil health series addresses progress that’s being made to ensure the healthy soils necessary to feed, clothe and fuel the world in the future. Soil peds, by the way, are aggregated particles of sand, silt, clay and organic matter.

Five inaugural PED Talks are now available, including a video introduction from USDA Natural Resources Conser­vation Service Chief Matt Lohr and presentations by experts from other partnering organizations.

“People say that clean water is the key to life on the planet, but the very same thing can be said about healthy soil—it is literally the foundation to productive agriculture, balanced wildlife habitats and an overall healthy environment,” Lohr said. “These PED Talks are not only useful for our nation’s ag­ricultural producers, but also for our educators, policy makers and the general public. We all benefit from good soil health.”

The PED Talks series was created by NRCS along with the Conservation Technology Information Center, Soil Health Institute, Soil Health Partnership, Soil Science Society of America and Soil and Water Conservation Society. The part­ners plan to record additional presentations and release them on the PED Talks YouTube channel, with a focus on the next generation of scientists and farmers.

View the PED Talks at http://bit.ly/PEDtalks.