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Soil sample, Delaware (ALL RIGHTS) May 2016. Soil sampling a wetland in First State National Park. On May 20 and 21, 2016, The Nature Conservancy and The National Parks Service partnered with National Geographic to execute the First State National Park's first Bioblitz outside of Wilmington, Delaware. Over the course of the two-day event, over 800 observations were recording and more than 300 species were identified. More than 30 volunteers, 200 middle and high school students, and 100 community members participated in nature walks, species inventories and educational science experiments. Photo credit: © The Nature Conservancy (Devan King) © Devan King/The Nature Conservancy

Food & Water Stories

Soil Health

Cover Crop Lease Insertion for Landowners and Farmers Working Together to Improve Soil Health

Healthy soil is the foundation for the long-term sustainability of a farm. Practices like cover crops not only improve soil health, but decrease erosion, protect water resources and increase farm profitability.

The Nature Conservancy and Purdue University developed a sample Cover Crop Lease Insertion to help landowners work with their farm operators and/or farm managers to incorporate cover crops into their leases.

Sample Cover Crop Lease Insertion