The Organic Farming Research Foundation (OFRF) has recently announced the recipients of their 2017 research grant awards. We’re very excited that the OSU Soil Fertility Lab was one of five research groups from across the nation to be awarded a grant from OFRF for our project entitled, “Evaluating Soil Protein as a New Soil Health Indicator”. Our lab focuses on quantifying various aspects of soil health and with this grant we are hoping to develop better predictive tools of organic matter nitrogen supply to plants based on rapid and affordable soil metrics. The research project will further our understanding of the newly emerging soil health measurements in organic cropping systems. We will work with organic farmers on evaluating, communicating, and interpreting soil health test results, as well as developing factsheets focusing on soil health testing on organic farms. We are excited to begin this research and believe this project has the potential to positively impact nutrient management on organic farms in the Midwest and surrounding regions by furthering the development of rapid and affordable soil health tests.