Soil Health Appraisal Scaling Roadmap

Delta Institute tested a proof-of-concept approach to incorporate measurements of soil health into the farm real estate appraisal process on 11 subject properties in DeKalb County, IL that were viewed to be reasonably indicative of many Midwestern farm properties. The Illinois Soil Health Appraisal Pilot Program (the Pilot Program) resulted in the creation of a modified Sales Comparison Approach, whereby appraisers collect soil health data from subject properties and create a simple “soil health index” in accordance with the Project Team’s replicable methodology. In this deliverable, Delta prescribes the following next steps needed to build a foundation on which soil health may be valued as a standard feature within the agricultural real estate market.