The Washington Soil Health Initiative is hosting its sixth annual series of SoilCon meetings! SoilCon brings together speakers from academia, industry, nonprofits, and government agencies to explore current topics in soil health.
Upcoming events
Wednesday May 27th 2026 9:00am to 3:00pm
WSU Puyallup Research and Extension Center
2606 W Pioneer Ave, Puyallup, WA 98371
Join us for a field tour and grower talks highlighting soil health innovations in residue management, weed control, pasture management, and cover cropping in Western Washington organic vegetable systems!
9:00am - 11:15am: Field Tour and Equipment Demo
Doug Collins, WSU
Stephen Bramwell, WSU
Emily Tzeng, Local Color Farm & Fiber
11:30am - 12:30pm: Lunch
12:45pm - 3:00pm: Producer Panel: Reduced Tillage
Jen Aron, Blue Raven Farm
Matt Steinman, Foothills Farm
Phelan Pagano, Little Big Farm
Past events
Thursday, February 26 2026, 1:00 PM to 5:00 PM
WSU Tri-Cities Campus or Online
2710 Crimson Way, Richland, WA 99354 Consolidated Information Center (CIC), Room 120
Sessions include:
WaSHI Vineyard LTARE Overview
Devin Rippner, USDA-ARS Prosser and Liz Gillispie, WSU Prosser
What is a Healthy Soil for Wine Grape Productions?
Noely Gonzalez-Maldonado, University of California – Davis
Cover Crops and Weed Management In Irrigated Perennials*
Rui Liu, WSU Weed Scientist and Devin Rippner, USDA-ARS
Producer Panel: Using Soil Data to Better Manage Vineyards
Kade Casciato, Ciel du Cheval Vineyard
Catherine Jones, Wilbur Ellis
Reid Wilson, Hedges Family Estate
*WSDA pesticide credits available for in-person attendees
Thursday February 12, 2026, 8:30am - 12:45pm PT
Online via Zoom Webinar
Sessions include:
Status of the World's Soil Resources and Demystifying Soil Health
David Lobb, University of Manitoba
Long-Term Soil Health Research
Tayler Ulbrich, Kellogg Biological Station LTAR
Surendra Singh, WSU Lind Dryland Research Station
Soil Microbiology
Jean-Michel Ane, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Mallory Choudoir, North Carolina State University
Kirsten Hofmockel, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
Soil Health Lightning Talks
Soil health researchers and educators
The 2026 Dryland Systems SoilCon event has been cancelled due to unforeseen circumstances. Stay tuned for information about next year's Dryland SoilCon event in early 2027.
WaSHI is a partnership between
