A bill seeking to codify the Soil Health Initiative was heard before the House Rural Development, Agriculture, & Natural Resources committee. Senate Bill 6306 is a joint collaboration between WSU, the state Department of Agriculture, and the state Conservation Coalition.
“Washington is the second most economically diverse state in the country, with 300 different commodities produced across the state’s diverse agroecological landscape” told Chad Kruger, Director of WSU’s Center for Sustainable Agriculture, in testimony before the House Rural Development, Agriculture, & Natural Resources committee, “Soil health can enable more frequent planting of our highest value crops and helps suppress soil borne disease. You can watch testimony on the bill below.
While the House budget proposal did not include funding and the Governor’s proposed budget partially funded the Initiative, the Senate budget proposal released on Monday would fully fund the program.
The bill is scheduled to be voted out of committee on Friday.