Soil at Heart of Conservation Decisions

By Jason Johnson

Soil scientist – to many people – may sound like a less than exciting career choice. Digging around, looking at different soil identifiers like colors, moisture levels, and textures might seem a little boring. 

But for the soil scientists across the country working for the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), soil is exciting! To them, soil is literally and figuratively the foundation for many decisions made by farmers.

NRCS staff recently celebrated the agency’s 90^th anniversary. Formed out of the Dust Bowl era, NRCS has – from its very infancy – focused on reducing soil erosion on private lands. 

Jason Steele is an area resource soil scientist for NRCS, covering the southeast part of Iowa. He has been a soil scientist for NRCS in some capacity for nearly 25 years. 

He grew up on a farm and still works there every night after work. His family raises corn, soybeans, alfalfa, and pasture for their cow/calf operation. “Since I actively farm, it helps me communicate well with our farmer landowners,” said Steele. “I can talk to farmers about planting, harvesting, haying, agronomic concerns, and even economic scenarios. I feel that it builds trust between NRCS and our farmers.”